Evidence

This is just speculation, but since the air raid at H-3 a few weeks ago or so, and since American forces completed exercises in Jordan., could the reports of special forces troops being seconded to the CIA mean that American forces based in Jordan are scouring western Iraq for the demanded "smoking gun?" I think the evidence so far is more than compelling enough to invade. But then, I’ve long thought a final reckoning with Iraq was long overdue. His single-minded pursuit of nuclear weapons is way too unsettling for us to allow Saddam to get nuclear weapons. His brutality is a bonus that makes ending his regime a service to humanity as well as being in our national interest.

But a lot of people have painted themselves into a corner. Unwilling to defend Saddam (except for the three gentlemen from Congress who went to Baghdad to bizarrely endorse Saddam’s past actions), they say, "Of course he must go, but where is the evidence of his weapons of mass destruction?" Since Saddam has flatly denied having any, it seems to me that we could get a pretty unanimous vote for war if American forces could extract some damning evidence from Iraq. The Baghdad Three would still deny the validity of the evidence, but few others could ignore the modern equivalent of U-2 photos of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Since Iraq would have to launch from western Iraq to hit Israel, that is a logical place to look.

As I said, I don’t think we need this level of evidence. I’m convinced by the public information without insisting on one silver bullet piece of evidence. But I sure hope we are using all this time dancing with the Security Council over the form of sham inspections to pull out a SCUD warhead with VX jammed in it. That would finally settle the issue. Just speculation, but I’d want this if I was president.