Letter: WMD must have been moved before invasion

Friday, May 13, 2005 | 9:13 a.m.

I agree with Jerry Sturdivant's April 15 letter, in which he assessed worldwide intelligence concerning the pre-invasion status of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

It is curious, however, that Mr. Sturdivant referred to Operation Desert Fox.

Let me share a quote reported by CNN: "Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq," President Bill Clinton explained on Dec. 16, 1998. "Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs ..." Is this the same WMD Mr. Sturdivant accuses President Bush of lying about?

While it is possible that 100 percent of Saddam's WMD was destroyed during Desert Fox, we had no opportunity to verify anything.

Mr. Sturdivant stated that there were many reasons to doubt Saddam still possessed WMD. He is correct. The president of the United States, however, cannot operate on "doubt" in the post-9/11 era.

Some facts have been verified. Saddam possessed WMD, Saddam used WMD multiple times. The U.S. has found no large stockpile of WMD to date.

The logical conclusion from these facts is not that Saddam possessed no WMD after 1998. The facts beg the question: Where is the WMD? Syria?

F. JAY HARRELL

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