In a recent interview, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says that the "moment of truth" for Saddam Hussein will be December 8th, which is when he must give a full and complete accounting of his Weapons of Mass Destruction (or "WMD" for short). Now that is a very interesting date.
Ramadan ends on the evening of December 6th. The end of Ramadan kicks off the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, which is by far the biggest festival/celebration of the Muslim world. It goes on for three days, with the first day the most intense, since it starts at sundown on the last day of a month of fasting. Muslims throw huge parties, with feasting, dancing, exchanging gifts, people travelling cross-country to meet with family and friends, etc. Think of it as Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year's Day all rolled into one 3-day party. It's a big deal.
That celebration ends at Sundown on the 9th. One day after Saddam's deadline. The Secretary made it clear that, if they find any discrepancies, and he's still hiding WMDs, all bets are off. Am I the only one who suspects that our governmenet has critical evidence that they aren't telling anyone about? That way, when Saddam claims not to have anything, they'll have him red-handed. Right as the winter is beginning, and the biggest Muslim festivals are behind us.
Eid Mubarak Ho, Saddam.
>>"Right as the winter is beginning, and the biggest Muslim festivals are behind us."
And right in the middle of a 3 day festival during which not much of anyone will be paying attention to Iraq.
I don't think we'll actually go on the 8th or 9th, although that would be nice.
Over six months ago, I read some stuff by an active-duty military officer who runs a blog. I was crushed, because he listed a number of strategic and (more importantly) logistical reasons why we would almost certainly not invade right then (this was late winter/early spring). Bottom line then was that we didn't have enough time to amass the forces before hot weather, and that hot weather would be murderous on our fighting men and equipment.
He predicted then and there that if we went at all, it would probably be January. So far all his other predictions have panned out. I just wish to hell I could remember the name of his blog--I lost it. %-)
Dean,
You do not alone believing our government is withholding information. I personally believe our government will not release all relevant information since it may very well be classified. This is not the Clinton administration, thank God.
This UN team is nothing more than inspector Clousseau’s menagerie. They will find nothing. We will find Saddam’s WMD only after invading Iraq then expelling Saddam Hussein.