“Weapon of Mass Destruction” is not a word you often hear used in the singular. But that’s what happened today, when a roadside bomb in Iraq was found to contain sarin gas, marking the first time anything meeting the definition of “weapons of mass destruction” has been found in Iraq.
The temptation for those of us who supported the war now is going to be to gloat, to say “ha ha, you were wrong, the weapons were there after all!” Bad idea, for a number of reasons. First, we don’t know whether the weapon was Saddam’s, or was smuggled into the country by other insurgents. Second, even if it’s Saddam’s weapon, it doesn’t equal the “stockpiles” that were discussed prior to the war. And third, WMDs in the hands of the insurgents means that not only are our troops in danger of being exposed to them, but that they’re now required to carry around protective equipment, limiting their effectiveness.
I believe, WMD or not, that the decision to remove Saddam remains the correct one. But does the discovery of a single weapon redeem the lost credibility of the Bush Administration that came from the incessant WMD warnings and suddenly solve all the problems currently going on in that country? No, of course not.
Posted by Stephen Silver at May 17, 2004 10:09 PM