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Captain Skyline
Vice Admiral
Joined: 09 Aug 2001
Posts: 6646
Location: UK
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 Sun Dec 14, 2003 6:35 am SADDAM HUSSEIN ARRESTED!!!! |
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Saddamn Hussein has been arrested in his hometown tikrit, in a celler.
They've done a DNA test and Tony Blair has confirmed that its true!!!
w00t!!
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Thomas
Pool Princess
Joined: 08 Jul 2001
Posts: 19730
Location: Manchester
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:23 am |
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| Quote: | Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been captured by US forces in Iraq, the coalition says.
He was found hiding in a cellar in his ancestral hometown of Tikrit, Iraqi official Ahmed Chalabi said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed the news, saying it "removes the shadow" hanging over Iraq.
Saddam Hussein is the most wanted man on the list issued by US authorities but has not been seen since Baghdad fell to US forces in April.
Intensive search
A spokeswoman for US-led coalition forces in Baghdad said that a "very important" announcement would be made at a news conference at 1200 GMT but would not give further details.
Iraqi Governing Council head Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim was quoted as saying that a DNA test had proved the man in custody was Saddam Hussein.
People were seen celebrating in the streets of Baghdad
The news comes as violence continued in Iraq, with at least 17 people killed and 30 wounded after a powerful car bomb exploded at an Iraqi police station in Khalidiyah, about 35 miles (60 km) west of Baghdad.
US officials say it may have been a suicide attack.
Saddam Hussein has been the object of intensive searches by US-led forces in Iraq but previous attempts to locate him have proved unsuccessful.
People have started celebrating the possible capture of their former president in the streets of Baghdad and the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
The former Iraqi leader was last seen in television footage shot in April at a Baghdad market just before the city fell to US forces in the recent Iraq conflict.
US authorities have offered a $25m reward for information leading to his capture.
On 22 July his sons, Uday and Qusay, were killed in a raid by US forces in the northern city of Mosul.
Intelligence
In October, US officials said they had intelligence indicating Saddam Hussein was hiding in Tikrit.
They said he seemed to be moving around various safe houses with the aid of family members, often in disguise.
Saddam Hussein was born in Tikrit and has a tight network of family and clan ties which permeated all of the regime's main military, security and political institutions while he was in power.
Coalition authorities have said that the former Iraqi president, if captured, could be tried at a war crimes tribunal, with Iraqi judges presiding and international legal experts acting as advisers. |
Source
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Gloss rhymes with hair!
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Morphy
Forum Ogre
Joined: 15 Jun 2001
Posts: 3858
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:46 am |
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BIG news. Deserves a sticky!
Congrats all involved, and congrats Iraq.
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Captain Skyline
Vice Admiral
Joined: 09 Aug 2001
Posts: 6646
Location: UK
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:51 am |
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Yes! congratz!
They are showing footage of his medical check now that hes been caught. He looks like hes been thru alot.
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John Connor
Admiral of the Terran Empire
Joined: 07 Sep 2002
Posts: 15657
Location: I.S.S Emperor
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 8:32 am |
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Yes thats great and im happy they got him and its about time too.
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Tri-Woo-Ox
Ensign
Joined: 28 Oct 2003
Posts: 48
Location: UK
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 8:35 am |
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Yep it's about time, lets hope people dont forgot what bush and blair both did tho!
congrats to the forces and the iraq people
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Pah-Wraith
Sheikh
Joined: 30 Nov 2001
Posts: 6012
Location: Londonistan.
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 9:01 am |
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HOORAH! WOOT WOOT!
Saddam is Caught that news has made my day, Congrats to the ppl who tipped of the Army in Iraq, you are going to be damned rich 
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Los
Commodore
Joined: 07 Jun 2002
Posts: 1336
Location: Oklahoma fa sho!
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 10:02 am |
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Saddam Hussein...
OWN3d.
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Starbuck
faster...
Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Posts: 8715
Location: between chaos and melody
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 10:05 am |
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disage............. I'm glad they cought him. Maybe my cousins will get to come home sooner now. *is hopeful*
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PrankishSmart
Rear Admiral
Joined: 29 Apr 2002
Posts: 4779
Location: Hobart, Australia.
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:02 am |
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Amazing news, all good. 
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:37 am |
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 Exactly, lets not forget that it was Bush and Blair who had the balls to go after him in the first place,
I love the fact that he had a pistol on him when found, but the little wuss didn't have the guts to even pull it,
Go 4th INFRANTRY
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Captain Dappet
Forum Revolutionist
Joined: 06 Feb 2002
Posts: 16756
Location: On my supersonic rocket ship.
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:50 am |
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Good news. But lets not forget that no WMD's have been found, which was the reason for the war in Iraq.
But, Im still glad that Saddam has been caught.
I say Congratulations to the Forces and the best of luck to the people of Iraq.
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:54 am |
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^Not yet. But if he gave up that easily, when armed, no doubt he'll talk.
I like how they are describing him. "Coward", "like a rat in a hole",
AOL's News
| Quote: | Saddam Captured, Disguised and Dusty
By HAMZA HENDAWI, The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Dec. 14) -- Without firing a shot, American forces captured a bearded and haggard-looking Saddam Hussein in an underground hide-out on a farm near his hometown of Tikrit, ending one of the most intensive manhunts in history. The arrest was a huge victory for U.S. forces battling an insurgency by the ousted dictator's followers.
''Ladies and gentlemen, we got him,'' U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer told a news conference Sunday, eight months after American troops swept into Baghdad and toppled Saddam's regime.
''The tyrant is a prisoner.''
In the capital, radio stations played celebratory music, residents fired small arms in the air in celebration and passengers on buses and trucks shouted, ''They got Saddam! They got Saddam!''
Washington hopes Saddam's capture will help break the organized Iraq resistance that has killed more than 190 American soldiers since President Bush declared major combat over on May 1 and has set back efforts at reconstruction. U.S. commanders have said that while in hiding Saddam played some role in the guerrilla campaign blamed on his followers.
In the latest attack, a suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives in a car outside a police station Sunday morning west of Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding 33 more, the U.S. military said.
Saddam was one of the most-wanted fugitives in the world, along with Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network who has not been caught despite a manhunt since November 2001, when the Taliban regime was overthrown in Afghanistan.
AP
Saddam in U.S. custody
� Interactive: The Life of Saddam Hussein
Saddam was captured at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in a walled farm compound in Adwar, a town 10 miles from Tikrit, said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq. The cellar was little more than a specially prepared ''spider hole'' with just enough space to lie down. Bricks and dirt camouflaged the entrance.
A Pentagon diagram showed the hiding place as a 6-foot-deep vertical tunnel, with a shorter tunnel branching out horizontally from one side. A pipe to the concrete surface at ground level provided air. The entrance to the hide-out was under the floor of a small, walled compound with a room in one corner and a lean-to attached to the room. The tunnel was roughly in the middle of the compound.
A U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Saddam admitted his identity when captured.
Sanchez, who saw Saddam overnight, said the deposed leader ''has been cooperative and is talkative.'' He described Saddam as ''a tired man, a man resigned to his fate.''
''He was unrepentant and defiant,'' said Adel Abdel-Mahdi, a senior official of a Shiite Muslim political party who, along with other Iraqi leaders, visited Saddam in captivity.
''When we told him, 'If you go to the streets now, you will see the people celebrating,''' Abdel-Mahdi said. ''He answered, 'Those are mobs.' When we told him about the mass graves, he replied, 'Those are thieves.'''
The official added: ''He didn't seem apologetic. He seemed defiant, trying to find excuses for the crimes in the same way he did in the past.''
The White House said Saddam's capture assures the Iraqi people that the deposed leader is gone from power for good.
Watch Video
LIVE: Saddam Capture Coverage
Reaction to the Announcement
It's a New Iraq Now
Broadband Only:
'We Got Him'
Cheers Erupt at News Conference
Blair Says 'Shadow of Saddam' Lifted
How They Caught Him
Iraqis Celebrate the Capture
''The Iraqi people can finally be assured that Saddam Hussein will not be coming back - they can see it for themselves,'' White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Bush planned a midday address to the nation on the capture, McClellan said.
Eager to give Iraqis evidence that the elusive former dictator had indeed been captured, Sanchez played a video at the news conference showing the 66-year-old Saddam in custody.
Saddam, with a thick, graying beard and bushy, disheveled hair, was seen as doctor examined him, holding his mouth open with a tongue depressor, apparently to get a DNA sample. Saddam touched his beard during the exam. Then the video showed a picture of Saddam after he was shaved, juxtaposed for comparison with an old photo of the Iraqi leader while in power.
Iraqi journalists in the audience stood, pointed and shouted ''Death to Saddam!'' and ''Down with Saddam!''
Though the raid occurred Saturday afternoon American time, U.S. officials went to great length to keep it quiet until medical tests and DNA testing confirmed Saddam's identity.
You Said It
DNA tests confirmed Saddam's identity, said the president of Iraqi Governing Council, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim.
Saddam was being held at an undisclosed location, and U.S. authorities have not yet determined whether to hand him over to the Iraqis for trial or what is status would be. Iraqi officials want him to stand trial before a war crimes tribunal created last week.
Amnesty International said Sunday that Saddam should be given POW status and allowed visits by the international Red Cross.
Ahmad Chalabi, a member of Iraq's Governing Council, said Sunday that Saddam will be put on trial.
''Saddam will stand a public trial so that the Iraqi people will know his crimes,'' said Chalabi told Al-Iraqiya, a Pentagon-funded TV station.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair hailed the capture, saying the deposed leader ''has gone from power, he won't be coming back.''
''Where his rule meant terror and division and brutality, let his capture bring about unity, reconciliation and peace between all the people of Iraq,'' Blair said in brief comments at his 10 Downing St. office.
In Tikrit, U.S. soldiers lit cigars after hearing the news.
Talk About It
� Post a Message | Chat
Some 600 troops from the 4th Infantry Division along with Special Forces captured Saddam, the U.S. military said. There were no shots fired or injuries in the raid, called ''Operation Red Dawn,'' Sanchez said.
Two men ''affiliated with Saddam Hussein'' were detained with him, and soldiers confiscated two Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, a taxi and $750,000 in $100 bills, Sanchez said. The two men were ''fairly insignificant'' regime figures, a U.S. defense official said.
Celebratory gunfire erupted in the capital, and shop owners closed their doors, fearful that the shooting would make the streets unsafe.
''I'm very happy for the Iraqi people. Life is going to be safer now,'' said 35-year-old Yehya Hassan, a resident of Baghdad. ''Now we can start a new beginning.''
Earlier in the day, rumors of the capture sent people streaming into the streets of Kirkuk, a northern Iraqi city, firing guns in the air in celebration.
''We are celebrating like it's a wedding,'' said Kirkuk resident Mustapha Sheriff. ''We are finally rid of that criminal.''
''This is the joy of a lifetime,'' said Ali Al-Bashiri, another resident. ''I am speaking on behalf of all the people that suffered under his rule.''
Despite the celebration throughout Baghdad, many residents were skeptical.
More on This Story
� Saddam Leaves Legacy of Destruction
� Blair Says Shadow of Saddam Removed
� Option for Saddam Might Be New Tribunal
See Photo Galleries
� Iraqis Celebrate the News
� Saddam Through the Years
''I heard the news, but I'll believe it when I see it,'' said Mohaned al-Hasaji, 33. ''They need to show us that they really have him.''
Ayet Bassem, 24, walked out of a shop with her 6-year-old son.
''Things will be better for my son,'' she said. ''Everyone says everything will be better when Saddam is caught. My son now has a future.''
After invading Iraq on March 20 and setting up their headquarters in Saddam's sprawling Republican Palace compound in Baghdad, U.S. troops launched a massive manhunt for the fugitive leader, placing a $25 million bounty on his head and sending thousands of soldiers to search for him.
Saddam proved elusive during the war, when at least two dramatic military strikes came up empty in their efforts to assassinate him. Since then, he has appeared in both video and audio tapes. U.S. officials named him No. 1 on their list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis, the Ace of Spades in a special deck of most-wanted cards.
Saddam's capture leaves 13 figures still at large from the list. The highest ranking figure among them is Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a close Saddam aide who U.S. officials have said may be directly organizing resistance.
U.S. forces had indicated they did not think Saddam would be captured alive.
Saddam's sons Qusai and Odai - each with a $15 million bounty on their heads - were killed July 22 in a four-hour gunbattle with U.S. troops in a hideout in the northern city of Mosul. The bounties were paid out to the man who owned the house where they were killed, residents said.
12/14/03 10:18 ET
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
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Even the Dems are saying that today politics don't matter, everyone deserves to celebrate.
Add my best wishes to the people of Iraq. They no longer have that monster to be scared of.
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 11:55 am |
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| Quote: | KARdude40 Says:
"By any definition they did in fact find a weapon of mass destruction -- Saddam." |
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:02 pm |
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| Captain Dappet wrote: | Good news. But lets not forget that no WMD's have been found, which was the reason for the war in Iraq.
But, Im still glad that Saddam has been caught.
I say Congratulations to the Forces and the best of luck to the people of Iraq. |
Lets not forget that he murdered thousands of innocent civilians. And yeah, congrats. This may mean a decline in attacks against the coalition forces; he may give some info too, but I doubt that.
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Captain Dappet
Forum Revolutionist
Joined: 06 Feb 2002
Posts: 16756
Location: On my supersonic rocket ship.
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:07 pm |
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I know, but that wasnt the reason for going to war.
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:26 pm |
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It wasn't the reason for going to war, but you said that no weapons were found, that sounds like your saying it was an unjust war. You may not have ment it like that, but that was how I interpreted it. It was worth going to war because if we didn't, more people would probobly be killed.
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Tri-Woo-Ox
Ensign
Joined: 28 Oct 2003
Posts: 48
Location: UK
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:32 pm |
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the way i see it is that this was was unjust because they claimed he had WMD, dont get me wrong i am very glade that saddem has been caputred but the the thing is that we were lied to by the goverment, if they cmae out and said we are going to war because how he is treating his people then fine, that would be a very good reason to go because there are proven facts on how he treats his people.
btw please dont bit my head off, this is just the way i see it
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Captain Dappet
Forum Revolutionist
Joined: 06 Feb 2002
Posts: 16756
Location: On my supersonic rocket ship.
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:33 pm |
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I agree with Tri-Woo-Ox.
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:35 pm |
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Well, the reason we went to Iraq was to find WMD. The government didn't lie, they didn't know if Iraq had any WMD.
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Starbuck
faster...
Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Posts: 8715
Location: between chaos and melody
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 12:37 pm |
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I have to agree with him too. We were lied to by our government. Just more proof that our government isn't worth beans.
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Pah-Wraith
Sheikh
Joined: 30 Nov 2001
Posts: 6012
Location: Londonistan.
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 1:27 pm |
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| 4evajaneway wrote: | | I have to agree with him too. We were lied to by our government. Just more proof that our government isn't worth beans. |
The Government may have told a White Lie/Lied, that shows they are like everyone else it's only when the Government become Compulsive Liars and tell ppl mulitple lies that ppl start disliking them 
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Starbuck
faster...
Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Posts: 8715
Location: between chaos and melody
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:26 pm |
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If our government was worth a *beep*, they wouldn't lie to us to gain our support.
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 2:29 pm |
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The reason we went to Iraq was to find WMD. The government never said there was any for sure. Then there were bombings and attacks agains the UN, that is why we are there now.
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Sun Dec 14, 2003 7:00 pm |
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I am not understanding how anyone can say that the government lied. Nothing has been proven nor disproven at this point. You all make it sound as simple as walking into your local grocery store and finding the item you want. It's not. You find a piece here, a piece there, and you put them together. I mean really, again, did you really think there would be signs throughout Iraq, "WMD 10k this way"?
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Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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