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"There you go."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3006149.stm

Halliburton contract awarded without bidding expands to cover "pumping and distribution of oil". Originally awarded to cap and control oil field fires.

Sleight of hand, a few mirrors, one airlifted Iraqi kid with no arms and voila.
US troops open fire on crowd killing several, rising anti-US feeling from Iraqi civilians still without basic facilities and what happens?
"Look, we released some people from Camp X-Ray. We care about brown people"
You released people after a year and a half without charge.
*slow clap*

Hussein remains at large. Said they wouldn't kill him before the invasion.
Bin Laden remains at large.

You'll forgive my cynicism at hearing that Halliburton are now able to pump and distribute the oil. I'm sure it's all about liberating those poor civilians.

Yes, Blair did state that, but how are we to know the weapons were not subsequently hidden after that, especially as the UN inspectors increased in number, and in terms of equipment available to them, after that statement. Or, and this is theoretical at this point, what if the weapons have gone walkies....if Syria can fail to notice trucks of money, and known Iraqi's, then what else ? Or, those units which had them could have disappeared into the fog of war and have gone rogue with them.

This is pure conjecture, but entirely possible.

I still believe we will find Iraq's illegal WMD's.

Ahhh, remember those salad days when Tony Blair stated as a matter of fact that Iraq had weapons of Mass Destruction that could be deployed within 45 minutes? Yet now we're in the grubby position of having to scour the country for materials that 'may have been used to create WOMD'.

You'd think that someone so desperate to find WOMD would actually allow the UN inspectors back in to do it, wouldn't you?

Oh, and here's a thing; haven't we been saying that France and Russia are equally as corrupt in their reasons for wanting to avoid war? Yet now there seems to be some sweet idea that anyone anti-war must be pro-France and Russia. Bizarre...

Goatboy wrote:
> And "Russia and France also want the UN to follow procedures -
> opposed by Washington - which would require UN arms inspectors to
> declare Iraq free of weapons of mass destruction before sanctions are
> removed."
>
> So Russia and France suggest that Iraq is officially declared free of
> WOMD before sanctions are repealed.
> And Washington opposes.
> But...I thought the whole point of invading Iraq was to remove these
> WOMD?
>
> I'm confused.

But, to make it even more perplexing, France, Russia et al have all publically said prior to this that they believe there are no WMDs anyway, so why do they suddenly require proof of something they have decided already ?

Hmm.....maybe it's Iraq's $4 billion IOU to Russia.....

I see W.O.P.R and I would rather play a nice game of chess

I thought of WOMAC WOMAC too, but it was a weak link.

It almost sounds a bit like WOMACK too. Imagine:

"US troops uncover Womack and Womack hiding in an Iraqi cave; smooth harmonies enjoyed by all, war ended."

Yes, good idea. Maybe we should let them keep one or two WOMDs just in case. I'm sure they'll promise not to use them unless it's an emergency.



Is it just me, or does anyone else look at WOMD and think of WOMAD? I can see the headlines now - "US Marines Find WOMAD In Iraq, Controlled Explosion Carried Out".

We should give them some better weapons and training then, just in case...

The sagacious one wrote:
> Would we help them repel an invasion from a country wishing to capture
> it's oil fields?

That's exactly what happened with Kuwait in the last Gulf war though.

Of course the Britis army would help. George Bush said so.

The ironic thing will be Iraq stripped of all it's weapons and the ability to defend itself in an unstable region removed. Would we help them repel an invasion from a country wishing to capture it's oil fields?

Hammertime too: between Iraq and a hard place.

The booger with the world is that one cannot fail to be cycnical of Government actions even if they seem justified, as there is always an ulterior motive and potential scandal to shake the foundations of your ideology.