WMD's

I wonder how aggressively the MSM is going to report this story:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?_r=0

Yes, Virginia, there were WMD's in Iraq.

For more than a decade now, the Left has railed against former President Bush, alleging that he used the search for non-existent WMD's as a pretext for finishing the war his father didn't.  Stories of a lack of WMD findings, flawed intelligence, even an abortive attempt to have President Bush impeached for manipulating the facts, were used to smear the Mr. Bush.  Now, stories are being leaked thanks to a FOIA request that there were plenty of WMD's found in Iraq.

Surprise, surprise.

I, for one, always believed that WMD's existed, but that they were spirited away to Syria, a Sunni nation, to help out the late Saddam Hussein.  Given that Bashir Al-Assad used chemical weapons against his opponents last year, my speculation was reasonable.  But now, thanks to the FOIA request, we're learning that the Pentagon concealed the truth from Congress and, by extension, the American public.

I wonder when the MSM is going to apologize for lambasting Mr. Bush.  I doubt that will happen. If anything, it will complain that Mr. Bush was in charge when his Pentagon withheld this information. The MSM will not use the same logic in addressing Mr. Obama's shortcomings, of course, because that, after all, would only be fair.  Instead, it will use this to pillory Mr. Bush as being incompetent, detached, unaware and just plain stupid that he didn't know -- even by osmosis -- that WMD's were found and that the discoveries were to be kept silent.  That Mr. Obama didn't know about the NSA spying, the IRS misdeeds, the Benghazi terrorist attacks, the Obamacare failure, the AP meddling, the James Rosen flap, the Secret Service reports or any of the other myriad scandals that have plagued his administration will be excused or ignored.  No, Mr. Bush will not receive an apology but will be blamed for this as well.

Even so, for a fair-minded person, shouldn't there be an acknowledgement that Mr. Bush got it right and that the handwringing was all wrong?

Eventually, the history of this era will be written with the benefit of released documents, the perspective that time provides and perhaps a change in attitudes brought about by developments that we can't foresee today.  In the meantime, we're left with this mess.  All I want is fairness.

On a personal note, I've had a chance, recently, to talk with a former soldier who was in Iraq ten years ago.  He told me unequivocally that they found WMD's there but never knew what happened after he told his superiors about them.

Perhaps now we know.

(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles