The question of whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD's) became even more cloudy or clear this week, depending on how one looks at the evidence. Reports surfaced (again) that Saddam moved his WMD's to Syria before the U.S.-led invasion. Then David Kay, chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, resigned his post, concluded there were no WMD's in Iraq, and asserted that any false "hype" about Saddam's arsenal should be blamed on American intelligence -- not President Bush. In a strange twist, Kay himself said he'd seen evidence that Saddam did move his WMD's to Syria. According to the Times of India,

Last year, David Kay had confidently predicted weapons would be found. But after nine months of searching, he said Sunday: "I don't think they exist." "It's an issue of the capabilities of one's intelligence service to collect valid, truthful information," Kay said on National Public Radio.

Asked whether President George W. Bush owed the nation an explanation for the discrepancies between his warnings and Kay's findings, Kay said: "I actually think the intelligence community owes the president, rather than the president owing the American people." The CIA would not comment on Kay's remarks, though one official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that Kay himself was vocal in predicting he would find weapons. Kay said his predictions were not "coming back to haunt me in the sense that I am embarrassed. They are coming back to haunt me in the sense of 'Why could we all be so wrong?'

His comments were both good and bad for the Bush Administration: good in the sense that Kay laid the blame for WMD hype on the intelligence community; bad in the sense that Bush will be plagued by continuing questions about his rationale for going to war. I personally don't give a hoot about the rationale for taking out poor little Saddam.

An estimated 300,000 dead Iraqis lay in some 260 mass graves, 40 of which have been confirmed to date. Saddam's rule meant torture chambers, dropping poison gas on civilians, starting an 8-year war with Iran which claimed a million lives, etc. Despite the current direct lack of evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, we know for sure Saddam had them in the past. Remember the 7,000 Kurds that Saddam annihilated with nerve and mustard gas in 1988?

I truly believe that Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair acted honestly on the intelligence that was provided to them. They are leaders not involved in the minutiae of intelligence gathering. A good manager delegates and has to trust the people around him or her.

The most important point out of all this politicking is Syria's involvement, and the fact that there is evidence Saddam moved WMD's to that country. Ergo, Saddam did have WMD's recently. They were just moved to Syria. But with Saddam gone, it is time we turn our attention to toppling the brutal regime ruling Syria. What more do people need to know about this regime? Isn't it bad enough that Syria allowed 241 American marines to be killed in 1983? Isn't it bad enough that Syria has a terrifying arsenal of weapons of mass destruction? Bad enough that Syria occupies Lebanon? Bad enough that Syria massacred 38,000 civilians in the town of Hama? Bad enough that Syria plays host to some of the world's worst terrorist groups?

The same David Kay who is making confusing statements about Saddam's WMD said Saturday,

...we know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD (weapons of mass destruction) program.

So where's the evidence? The Washington Post cited

...reports claiming that Hussein used ambulances to smuggle chemical and biological weapons to three sites hidden in Syria in the months before the U.S. invasion in March. News services said the claim was made yesterday on Britain's independent Channel 5 News by a Syrian dissident, Paris-based human rights campaigner Nizar Nayyouf, who said he had been given the information by a senior source inside Syrian military intelligence he had known for two years.

DEBKAfile confirmed:

Nizar Najoef, a Syrian journalist who recently defected from Syria to Western Europe and is known for bravely challenging the Syrian regime, said in a letter Monday, January 5, to Dutch newspaper “De Telegraaf,” that he knows the three sites where Iraq’s WMD are kept. ...

Najoef, who has won prizes for journalistic integrity, says he wrote his letter because he has terminal cancer.

This journalist's claims were reported by The National Review and the Lebanese Association, who provided satellite images of Syrian WMD activities.

According to WorldNetDaily.com,

A relative of Syrian President Bashar Assad is hiding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in three locations in Syria, according to intelligence sources cited by an exiled opposition party.

The weapons were smuggled in large wooden crates and barrels by Zu Alhema al-Shaleesh, known for moving arms into Iraq in violation of U.N. resolutions and for sending recruits to fight coalition forces, said the U.S.-based Reform Party of Syria.

What more proof does the international community need to understand the threat posed by the current Syrian regime? Time for another "regime change."