So a Marine I know just got back from Iraq

He graduated from high school a year before me and I don't know what his job in the Marines is--the last I heard was that he was a backup for the Silent Drill Team. He apparently voluteered to go to Iraq. He just came back, and was a guest speaker in my sister's government class--the class was discussing the Iraq war.

One of the more liberal students in the class (there's one freeper in the class, and the rest are fairly left wing) asked him the question, "So when you went to Iraq, were you a little disappointed to find that there weren't any weapons of mass destruction?"

He replied, "They had weapons of mass destruction. I saw them with my own eyes. They had chemical filled SCUDs which were a direct violation of UN resolutions."

I'd like to know what it is that he, and the rest of his unit saw. Not only that, it seems to me that the troops are being lied to rather bluntly.

Re-Election Campaign.

.

Otherwise they'd have to admit that they (like the American people) were duped. Something I'm sure most of them don't want to admit, even if they DO know it.

what chemicals were they filled with?

Were you invited to hear him speak? It seems like you were able to quote him word for word, or was this from your sister? Have you had a chance to talk to him, and ask him why this Scud WMD find hasn't hit mainstream news yet? Were the people handling the Scuds in full chemical gear protection suits? The only Scuds I've heard found couldn't go past their legal radius while having a conventional payload attached to them. The UN & Iraq agreed to destroy those anyways, making Iraq even less capable of threatening their neighbors or our illegal invasion to their country. Keep asking questions to the veteran, and report back if you can. Welcome to DU by the way.

:D

Of course, other fairy tales start out, "Once upon a time ..." but sea stories are a bit different in introduction.

you might have started that way, Pepper. Us much more articulate "Airedales" started ours "I shit you not!!"

we made up for it with the creative use of 'fucking' as an adjective.

Smooth seas, sailor.

:toast:

to you, Buddy

from one of my nurses. Her son called her from Iraq and said they found WMD's. This was around late July. He is back now. I was just flabber-gasted by that comment.She really believes him.... Needless to say, she does not like my politics. She is a true right winger but a quite one.

shouting it from the rooftops, then, to save their collective murdering asses!

1) No WMD is bad for Blair, but not that bad for Bush (thanks to crap media here).

2) No WMD might encourage Dems to unwisely pick a candidate (or NOT pick a candidate) based on vote on Iraq.

for the Brits to see?

Or would the Americans hide them from them, too?

as WMD. I think this marine is mistaken.

I've heard this a couple of times. There were warheads with traces of some sort of chemical, not enought to really be considered anything. I'm not even sure the actual lab testing came back as anything. But there are some people who firmly believe that those initial trace findings prove WMD were in Iraq. They don't understand that the testing equipment the military uses is intentionally very sensitive to make sure nothing is missed.

about "chemical warheads" on scuds. Turned out they were empty and the story disappeared. It was a really big deal for a couple of days (and I believe that our own Will Pitt had a bit of an interesting interchange with a tv personality over the coverage of the story). The story has never been mentioned again (as it was disproven).

I would venture to guess that at the point of the find - the initial news reports (what was found) was shared with the folks on the ground but that the disproving evidence never was. Chances are he speaks the truth - as he knows it.

is that this hasn't been publically disseminated, and yet he does not feel restricted in saying it?

From the Manhattan Mercury (Manhattan, KS)

http://www.themercury.com/stories/article.14192.aspx
(but you have to register. It really is not worth registering. The important part of the blurb is below).

What they found when they searched Iraq for WMDs
By Leah Fliter

"It was probably the most incredible experience in my military career so far," said Col Rich McPhee of his recent tour of duty in Iraq.
McPhee, now chief of staff at Fort Riley, talked about his war-time experiences at a Wednesday meeting of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce's military relations committee.
An artillery commander, McPhee led the 75th Exploitation Task Force, a multi-disciplinary, international team of intelligence and weapons experts who were searching for the "weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)."
The team found "intelligence sites", mass graves, and lots of antiquities, but no WMDs.
"I don't know if there are WMDs," after searching for several months, "but I believe our President ... and I believe we stopped a program," McPhee said.
The team included American and British military experts and representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Intelligence Agency, as well as embedded media.
snip...
_____________________
I cannot believe this people. What is that they say? "Do you want to believe me or your lying eyes?" He did not find anything but he believes his president!

It is possible that Weapons of Mass Distruction have already been found and are being kept under wraps by the administration. The intent of this ruse would be to let the Democrats make this a big issue until right before the election and then spring the evidence. I know it sounds unbelievable but it may be something they are capable of doing. If so, it may be the end of American democracy.

I'd like to know how they can keep them "underwraps" for so long?

A few years back there was a scandal regarding the SDT, they hazed the hell out of new recruits, put shoe polish remover on their genitals (I shit you not). And other sadistic things this was at the 29 Palms base near Bakersfield CA (why there is a Marine base in the middle of a desert is beyond me).

Anyway the culture of this type of organization is that it is an "Honor Unit" (my term) meaning that these are the most gung-ho members of the military. And as the 29 Palms incident clearly shows honor is not really a requirement. Just a blind obedience to orders.

Would this Marine lie to cover up the lack of WMD's? Well if he was telling the truth - where are they?

Would anyone have the guts to question him to his face? Not if they wanted to keep their teeth, they sure as hell wouldn't.

A letter to the Marine Inspectors General requesting a clarification, using this gentleman's name might convince him to stop making up stories.

Nah. I don't think he would have, but one never knows.

Don