A relative of Syrian President Bashar Assad is hiding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in three locations in Syria, according to intelligence sources cited by an exiled opposition party.

The weapons were smuggled in large wooden crates and barrels by Zu Alhema al-Shaleesh, known for moving arms into Iraq in violation of U.N. resolutions and for sending recruits to fight coalition forces, said the U.S.-based Reform Party of Syria.

The party, based in Potomac, Md., regards itself as a secular body comprised of Syrians who want to see the country embrace "real democratic and economic reforms."

One weapons-cache location identified by the sources is a mountain tunnel near the village of al-Baidah in northwest Syria, the report said. The tunnel is known to house a branch of the Assad regime's national security apparatus.

Two other arms supplies are reported to be in west-central Syria. One is hidden at a factory operated by the Syrian Air Force, near the village of Tal Snan, between the cities of Hama and Salmiyeh. The third location is tunnels beneath the small town of Shinshar, which belongs to the 661 battalion of the Syrian Air Force.

The nephew of Zu Alhema al-Shaleesh, Assef al-Shaleesh, runs Al Bashair Trading Co., a front for the Assad family involved prior to the war in oil smuggling from Iraq and arms smuggling into the country. Al-Bashair has offices in Damascus, Beirut and Baghdad.

In an exclusive interview yesterday with the London Telegraph, Assad came close to admitting his country possessed stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.


He said Israel must agree to abandon its undeclared nuclear arsenal in order for Syria to consider any deal with the U.S.

One should question a Syrian exile as a source.
Firstly they harbour grudges against the current regime which might motivate them to propogate spurious claims.

If the claims come from an exiled POLITICAL PARTY then the information should be taken with more than a pinch of salt, namely that the aforementioned party has a vested interest in discrediting the regime. With US relations already somewhat sour towards the Syrian regime, it is understandable that exiled nationals may want to inflame relations further.

Also: If the threat of the use of WMD was the reason for going to war then surely the Syrian proposition is a self defeating point - WMD is not a threat if the weapons themselves are buried in the Syrian desert are they.

Thats where the evidence started. We have satelitle photos of this activity from that time. I'll dig them up and post em if you want

Uh, can I just add this? Cuz really, say what you want about Bush, he is pretty slow, and he is for tax cuts for the rich.

But about the oil...

OIL IS FOR SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SADDAM WAS SELLING OIL BEFORE THE INVASION, HE WOULD'VE SOLD MORE IF HE WAS LEFT IN POWER, AND HE WOULD'VE SOLD A LOT MORE IF THE SANCTIONS WERE LIFTED.

THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO SPEND $1 TRILLION+ ($$$ for military operations, reconstruction, and what all the years of uncertainty cost the U.S. economically) TO GET OIL! HELLO??? THEY COULD'VE JUST BOUGHT IT.

Invading Iraq only REDUCED the oil available to America.

So again...war for oil = retarded.

What you just just is the stupidest, most insanly idiotic thing I have ever heard. At no moment in time in your rambling did you make any sense whatsoever. All of us are now dumber for having listened to it ;D

You're right that didn't make much sense.
What I meant was that
1. wash25 is right that it couldn't be the only reason for going in
2. HOWEVER the fact that it is illogical to invade a country for oil (b/c it's counterproductive)- doesn't mean that they won't do it - it's also illogical to fight terror in the wrong places but that doesn't mean they won't do it
3. b/c of #2, I think it was ONE of the reasons NOT the ONLY reason, but the fact that they could get oil contracts out of it didn't hurt

Ok, just think about this:

There was an infinitley cheaper way to get oil and oil contracts. All the U.S. had to do to get tons of oil and tons of oil contracts was to lift the sanctions on Saddam (they could've even done it w/ out lifting the sanctions, just ask France and Russia).

So here are some other possible motivations:

1. Spreading democracy (and that may or may not be a retarded idea).

2. Control and influence the Middle East from Iraq (as a political and military base).

3. Use Iraq as a base of operations from which to carry out attacks against Iran, Syria, Yemen, etc.

Any of those are plausible, and more importantly, Bush can still be an evil person if the answer is #2 or #3 (which I know is important to a lot of people).

All I am saying is that it cannot be oil. The oil theory is completely absurd for reasons already stated.

control over the output of oil from the country with the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world was a sweetener. with saudi towing the line, america has guaranteed itself as much oil as it needs for the next 65-75 yrs - and u can't put a price on that.

but i agree to that it wasnt the only reason. iraq is so important geo-politically to the interests of US policy in the middle-east and to Israel too.

Iraq could have been the regional superpower and Israel would not have liked that. With Iraq clearly no longer a threat, Israeli supremacy in the middle east is assured - and they have the upper hand in bargaining with the palestinians.

(no intention of bringing the matter of israel's existence into the debate cos it aint an issue)

America is the empire unable to call itself one.

get yourself a pen and paper to take notes, cos it's time for a little education for you.

From The National Center for Policy Analysis

"the world’s oil supply will not be exhausted until the year 2056."

if the world slows down it's comsumption it could last longer...so 65-75 years seems reasonable.


www.ncpa.org/pub/bg/bg159/bg159.pdf

and I believe I said "(no intention of bringing the matter of israel's existence into the debate cos it aint an issue)"

hardly anti-semitic is it?

I presume you have no idea of the anomosity that exists between Iraq and Israel do you?

(get yourself a new pen and paper)

Back in the 50's, Iraq expelled all the Jews from Iraq, they mostly ended up in Israel.

In the 80's, Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear facility

In the Gulf War, Iraq rained down 41 scud missiles on Israel.

Israel stated it would assasinate Saddam in revenge - they actually managed to kill two of his look-a-likes that Saddam employed.

For years, Saddam has portrayed himself as a modern day Nebuchednezzer. Nebuchednezzer kicked out all the Jews from Jerusalem many years ago. You see what Saddams intentions were?

Saddam gave $25,000 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers and gave the Palestinian resistance financial backing.

With Arafat and Saddam gone, the Israeli's and Palestinians are closer to peace than they have been in so long. A peace will remove the anomosity between the arabs and jews which will bring lasting peace to the middle east.

Can you see why Israel is more than fucking happy to see the back of Saddam?

and by the way, if anybody has anything anti-semetic or racist to say, they'll have to deal with me. i warned you.

not with saddam... no chance in hell
sorry to burst your bubble