Where'd They Go?

Once again, we're hearing stories that Iraq's WMD were spirited away to Syria on the eve of the Coalition invasion of Iraq in 2003. This time, the claim is coming from one of Israel's generals who was in charge at the time of the invasion.

The Israeli officer, Lieutenant General Moshe Yaalon, asserted that Saddam spirited his chemical weapons out of the country on the eve of the war. "He transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria," General Yaalon told The New York Sun over dinner in New York on Tuesday night. "No one went to Syria to find it."

From July 2002 to June 2005, when he retired, General Yaalon was chief of staff of the Israel Defense Force, the top job in the Israeli military, analogous to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the American military. He is now a military fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He made similar, but more speculative, remarks in April 2004 that attracted little notice in America; at that time he was quoted as saying of the Iraqi weapons, "Perhaps they transferred them to another country, such as Syria."

It's been speculated for quite some time that the WMD were taken in truck convoys into the Beka'a Valley, where they remain hidden from the world. There have been various reports over the past several years that there were numerous large truck convoys that went between Iraq and Syria that could not be explained. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister made that observation back in 2002:

An article in the Fall 2005 Middle East Quarterly reports that in an appearance on Israel's Channel 2 on December 23, 2002, Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon stated, "Chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria." The allegation was denied by the Syrian government at the time as "completely untrue," and it attracted scant American press attention, coming as it did on the eve of the Christmas holiday.

It is quite possible that the WMD were taken out in these convoys, but the only way to know for sure is to go and investigate the claims by having boots on the ground in Syria - and that's not going to happen anytime soon. You just can't expect Syria to roll over, despite the increasing pressure as a result of the Harari assassination, the Mehlis Report, and continued attacks pro-Lebanese politicians and leaders by Syrian operatives.

UPDATE:
Pamela at Atlas Shrugs noticed the NY Sun story as well. And calls out the Leftists who continue to say no WMDs and other such blather.