You Decide

It's true; at least partly. General Sada held the #2 post in Iraq's air force, and was one of Saddam's most trusted advisers for over twenty years. In his new book, "Saddam's Secrets," General Sada gives a very detailed account of the components he and his subordinates flew out of Iraq in the months before the war began. He describes having seen and carried yellow barrels emblazoned with skulls and crossbones (biological agents), various delivery devices (warheads) and large blue cannisters filled with chemical agents.
Now for the not-so-true part:
The report quoted by Deputy Undersecretary Shaw can best be described as propaganda as it appears in news magazines. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence should be able to reason that it would be impossible to determine the collective nationality of a group of people wearing civilian clothes from a photograph taken from an altitude of fifteen miles.
This story, like so many others, has been shamelessly embellished and bastardized along its trip through the political grapevine. The truth is that the Fedayeen Saddam, made up of irregular Iraqi soldiers who were fiercely loyal to Saddam Hussein and the Ba'athist party, often wore captured Russian uniforms (obtained from Afghani replacements) when their own issues wore out. Only Saddam's elite Republican Guard were adequately fed and clothed on a regular basis; the remainder of his army was expected to survive on their faith and loyalty. There is no question that Fedayeen troops were utilized to facilitate the removal of WMD across the borders of Syria and Afghanistan, but that doesn't make for very good copy when you're trying to sell newspapers or magazines. It's much more fun, and profitable, to introduce a sinister element to the story and suggest that the Cold War continues, thus ensuring that the American public will continue to be at once fascinated, suspicious and, more importantly, fearful.

Jim 695 said    "It's much more fun, and profitable, to introduce a sinister element to the story and suggest that the Cold War continues, thus ensuring that the American public will continue to be at once fascinated, suspicious and, more importantly, fearful. "

And the BS bus rolls forward filled with folks who like to be spoon fed the "evening news.'