4/29/2007
Paul (Dave) Gaubatz and caches of WMD found in Iraq in 2003
melanie phillips has a post up that shows that some of this information is getting out, despite the leftists beating on the “no wmd” drum.
She points out that Dave Gaubatz actually found bunkers containing WMD. Melanie Phillips:
Saddam’s WMD did exist. He [Gaubatz] should know because he found the sites where he is certain they were stored. And the reason you don’t know about this is that the American administration failed to act on his information, ‘lost’ his classified reports and is now doing everything it can to prevent disclosure of the terrible fact that, through its own incompetence, it allowed Saddam’s WMD to end up in the hands of the very terrorist states against whom it is so controversially at war.
This is verified by Jamie Glazov’s 2006 interview at Frontpage Magazine with Gaubatz, where he clearly draws the picture: the ISG was a bumbling group completely incapable of doing what they were assigned to do.
Paul (Dave) Gaubatz is a former U.S. Federal Agent (Arabic linguist/counter-terrorist specialist), deployed to Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His mission was to search for WMDs. Four sites he identified were not searched by ISG (Iraq Survey Group) and he has waged a three year battle to get them searched. (This was written at Frontpage Magazine as a preface to Jamie Glazov’s interview with Gaubatz which I can’t access except through cache on google. is available here.)
I sincerely doubt that that any honest search can ever happen, as the MSM has a stranglehold on information disseminated to a completely clueless public. Too many regular Americans have bought into the marxist lie that “Bush lied, men died”.
Gaubatz: There are four sites I identified in southern Iraq. Two are within the city limits, one about 20 miles south of Nasiriyah (in the vicinity of Suk Ash Shuyakh), and another near the port of Umm Qasr (near Basrah). Three agents and I identified these sites. We had multiple sources, from various backgrounds, and who had access to the information.
One must remember that at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the average Iraqi was more open to providing Americans intelligence. They wanted Saddam removed and wanted chemical and biological weapons removed as well. The people of southern Iraq had fully expected WMDs to be used against them as well. Each of their homes had been prepared for a chemical attack. Many had gas masks and had sealed certain rooms in their homes. We were shown this.
Iraqis from backgrounds such as Iraqi Police officers, Doctors, Engineers, Iraqi Govt. officials, farmers, tribesmen, etc. identified sites that contained WMDs. They explained in detail why WMDs were in these areas and asked the U.S. to remove the WMDs. Much of the WMDs had been buried in rivers (within concrete bunkers), and in the sewage pipe system. There were signs of chemical activity in the area (missile imprints, gas masks, decontamination kits, atropine needles, etc..) The Iraqis and my team had no doubt WMDs were hidden in these areas.
The Agents and I knew we had found what we had been looking for. We immediately wrote our reports, which included all the source names, their credibility, their contact information, grid coordinates of the sites, and photographs. The reports were then sent to the U.S. Weapons Inspectors (in northern Iraq). This was mid April 2003. We were initially told by the Inspectors that their team was not organized at this point to conduct exploitations of sites. The sites we had identified would require an extensive amount of excavation. The actual ISG was not formed until a couple of months after the war. Not only did ISG not have the people and proper equipment, they advised Iraq was still a combat zone and very dangerous. ISG members further told us that WMD searches were being concentrated in northern Iraq, and not southern Iraq.
This was the first and largest mistake by ISG. During my intelligence gathering the Iraqis had told us that Saddam concentrated on hiding the WMDs in the southern region because the history of prior UN Weapons Inspections had always concentrated in searches of northern faculties. Searches in southern Iraq had primarily been helicopter flyovers. I have respect for every U.S. member of ISG who served in Iraq, but as an organization, the management was poor. They were not organized nor prepared for this type operation. I compare them to FEMA during Hurricane Katrina. Good people, but poor management. Poor management results in disaster and failure.
Government agencies are notoriously incompetent and the answer is not to grow them bigger or throw more tax money at them; the answer is to get rid of them completely. Government is not the answer to a single problem.
If we’re to look for the truth on anything, it certainly isn’t from the print media or the hacks on television.
Shattering Conventional Wisdom on Saddam’s WMD « Cao2’s Weblog linked with Shattering Conventional Wisdom on Saddam’s WMD « Cao2’s Weblog
April 29th, 2007 at 8:25 am
That doesn’t surprise me at all. There were WMD in Iraq. If Bush had sent three times the troops in, and locked down the country he might have actually looked smart and the reputation of the US around the world wouldn’t be in the toilet. Plus, terrorists wouldn’t have pleanty of material for recruiting more terrorists.
Instead they told Colin Powell to shove the Iraq War Plan where the sun doesn’t shine and they proceeded to lose the war by not following the play book. Government does bungle things up, but this one was fumbled from the top down.
I personally like Donald Rumsfeld quite a bit, but he made the wrong call on this and the Commander in Chief should have opted to go with the battle plan of the military leadership on this one. There was too much at stake and the results have been disasterous.
April 29th, 2007 at 8:50 am
That war isn’t lost, YET. If the democrats and their terrorist loving media have their way, it WILL be lost. But just because Reid says so doesn’t mean it is.
Unfortunately I don’t think the Bush administration is to blame for most of the disinformation out there. You have the media touting the lying Plame and Wilson duo, when it was THEY that lied. You have numerous Republicans being brought up on stupidity charges like Libby - and that should have never been pursued, considering what the prosecutor knew three years prior.
Few issues that magazines or papers today take on, or television news broadcasts, for that matter, woould not have landed their staff in prison during WWII. Reread the accounts of our great WWII commanders; they considered public support paramount to their ability to win. There was rationing, which drove the point home that people needed to sacrifice for the war effort. No American cars were built in ‘42 through ‘45. There was censorship (recall the numerous ‘loose lips sink ships’ posters) and Americans knew and completely understood why that was so: Our survival was at stake. The Bill of Rights was laid aside for the duration, just like Habeas Corpus was set aside during the Civil War. Same with WWI. H.L. Mencken raged that even performances of Bach were suspect.
One guy said in an email:
So to blindly lay this all at the feet of the Bush Administration alone and join the extremist ‘blame Bush’ crowd is completely simplistic and stupid; and fits in with the Revolutionary Communist Party which carries “the world can’t wait-drive out the Bush regime’ signs at anti-war protests. Be careful what it is you say, because without realizing it, you are joining forces with the people who want to destroy America and our republic.
I’m not to the point where I’m willing to say that it’s lost….if the democrats have their way; I will blame it on the people who are responsible; and it’s not the Bush administration that has been putting up the white flag and proclaimed loudly to the world that we’ve “lost”. We’ve only lost our resolve, no thanks to the idiots in the antiwar crowd including and especially the media.
What is completely frightening to me is - the terrorists will follow us home. Educate your children on sharia law, buy your daughters burqas, and get ready to convert if you want to survive this- because it looks like it’s coming!!! The democrats will sell us down the river just to bring down the Bush administration, not realizing what the ramifications will be 5, 10 and 20 years down the road.
It’s utter and total stupidity. I am so disappointed in my own countrymen.
April 29th, 2007 at 9:01 am
I agree 100% with Cao’s analysis and explanation!
April 29th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Our survival is still at stake in this - what’s a shame is how many people who haven’t been touched by this; the majority of Americans are living their lives as though nothing is happening.
We have been lulled to sleep…and it will take more terrorist attacks on our soil for people to wake up.
Not to worry, that will happen for sure after we pull out from Iraq; and Iraqis who’ve been turning in terrorists and beginning to taste freedom will bleed just like the Cambodians did after Vietnam at the hands of the Khmer Rouge because of our cowardice.
April 30th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Phillips is a fabricator and exaggerator… there were no WMD’s found.
April 30th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Paul (Dave) Gaubatz says differently, and as she points out, he should know.
Paul (Dave) Gaubatz is a former U.S. Federal Agent (Arabic linguist/counter-terrorist specialist), deployed to Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His mission was to search for WMDs. Four sites he identified were not searched by ISG (Iraq Survey Group) and he has waged a three year battle to get them searched. (That was back in 2006)
He said:
One must remember that at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the average Iraqi was more open to providing Americans intelligence. They wanted Saddam removed and wanted chemical and biological weapons removed as well. The people of southern Iraq had fully expected WMDs to be used against them as well. Each of their homes had been prepared for a chemical attack. Many had gas masks and had sealed certain rooms in their homes. We were shown this.
Iraqis from backgrounds such as Iraqi Police officers, Doctors, Engineers, Iraqi Govt. officials, farmers, tribesmen, etc. identified sites that contained WMDs. They explained in detail why WMDs were in these areas and asked the U.S. to remove the WMDs. Much of the WMDs had been buried in rivers (within concrete bunkers), and in the sewage pipe system. There were signs of chemical activity in the area (missile imprints, gas masks, decontamination kits, atropine needles, etc..) The Iraqis and my team had no doubt WMDs were hidden in these areas.
See more about Gabatz here, here, here and here.
Sorry, guy, this isn’t about Melanie Phillips at all…although she pointed it out, lol…you’re a poofter with a vast proclivity for being a odious wanker.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Now, now, Cao. That last part wasn’t necessary, was it?
Just the IDEA of Democracy and self-determination in Iraq scares the living hell out of Al Qaeda, Syria, Iran & Saudi Arabia. This is possibly the reason why a scared jackrabbit would jump into your comments section so quickly trying to discredit the truth that WMD was found. Why would someone give a **** that you’d put that in print? When they already have a stranglehold on the information flow in the media, what does it matter that the truth would emerge somewhere?
I’ll tell you why: because someone might get a hold of it unless it’s stamped out with a jackboot.
From doctors to Bedouins, the Iraqis I talked with want a country closer to the political and economic situation of Jordan; they don’t want another Iran or Saudi Arabia.
As far as the WMD commentary that you’ve quoted above, Cao, there was also the 180 tons of yellowcake uranium discovered at al-Tawaitha. Yes, we found WMD; and more than just a garage full of it…
August 1st, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Reading this article proves nothing. Not once did he mention the weapons at these sites. Only they were sites. This was reported by CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/12/wmd.search/), & MS NBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3068560/). The sad truth is the homes in the north were attacked with chemical warfare (http://hnn.us/articles/1242.html) and the people of the south anticipated such an attack on themselves, by Saddam, and took precautions. This was in the 80’s well before the US decided to go into Iraq in the 90’s.
If there had been WMD’s in Iraq, the White House would have been all over it to justify there invasion. Yet there wasn’t and the American people got duped into a war. Now this illegal war (still has yet to be declared by congress) has no exit strategy. The illegal war continues and no exit strategy in site.
According to Bob Woodard’s book, State of Denial, there was never an exit strategy. Harry Kissinger was quoted several times saying, “Victory over the insurgency is the only meaningful exit strategy.” A strategy that has obviously no meaning. Unless the term insurgency includes Iran.
And I am sure Buzz has pictures of his garage full of uranium!
There is no proof of the WMD’s and until there is, this topic is about as bad as those people claiming there were “pods” attached to the bottom of the 9/11 jets:!:
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:40 am
Saddam used WMD against his own people.
There was WMD, and the government failed to investigate; bottom line.
The “No WMD” argument is stupid and false, although it’s a convenient ’slogan’ like Bush lied, men died.
WMD was found in al-Tuwaitha the IAEA obfuscated the facts.
Some of the WMD was trucked out of Iraq to Syria.
WMD in Syria: Kay-Ex-inspector says Iraq sent ‘lot of material’-By AP
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:20 am
Answering a post that’s 4 months old -
- don’t Leftie Trolls have anything better to do than hashing out things that have been proven already without a doubt?
…banging head on keyboard screaming, Why?…
December 3rd, 2007 at 12:04 pm
[…] Unfortunately, when you go to Loftus’ website, there is music playing in another language, and you have to pay for the report, but this is what he says about the documentation of what happened to Saddam’s WMD, in part: This Iraqi document research has been supplemented with satellite photographs and dozens of interviews, among them David Gaubatz who risked radiation exposure to locate Saddam’s underwater WMD warehouses , and John Shaw, whose brilliant detective work solved the puzzle of where the WMD went. Both have contributed substantially to solving one of the most difficult mysteries of our decade. […]