- Jan 12, 2012
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If true, as a piece of intelligence disinformation, it was remarkably effective, since all the major intelligence agencies (including the Germans and French and Russians, who had all been involved in construction projects in Iraq). The idea that the US was the sole possessor of faulty information got very popular after the successful invasion, despite the fact that stores of chemical weapons and precursor chemicals WERE discovered during mopup operations and chemical weapons were incorporated into various IEDs for years after the invasion.
It's also true that the 60 days between the "final ultimatum" and the invasion was plenty of time for Sadaam to transfer munitions and equipment to his ally, Syria, and there is some intelligence that suggests this was the case.
Not only was there evidence to suggest the export of, well, items to Syria, but also there have been a number of things reported found and dug up in the desert, none of which were located without the help of local snitches who probably didn't consider it selling out anyone in particular at that point (and no longer had to fear being disappeared by that humanitarian of humanitarians, Saddam).