PenceBlog: Pence Notes: On Congressional Reaction to WMDs Found in Iraq - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence : 6th District Of Indiana

So the military announces the discovery of two aged munitions in Iraq that contained weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and nothing happens? After months of criticism in the media and in the Congress over the failure to find any evidence of WMD’s in Iraq, the surprise discovery of what are very likely Iraqi munitions containing mustard gas and sarin gas has almost been treated as a minor event in the halls of Congress!

I am astounded by this and suspect there are some who would like to wish the story away. I have even heard it said, “well, they were obviously older shells dating to years ago in the regime of Saddam Hussein.” To which I reply, “that’s exactly what we expected to find, old munitions containing chemical weapons that Saddam said he had destroyed but didn't!”

Yesterday, I attended a meeting with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and his senior military advisors from the Pentagon. I asked the secretary about what steps were being taken to enhance force protection for troops now that we have found WMD’s in Iraq.

His answer, while classified, was quite encouraging but it was obvious some of my colleagues didn’t appreciate the premise of my question! We went to war because we believed Saddam Hussien had WMD’s, associated with terrorists in Iraq and had an appalling record on human rights.

To the critics of our reason to go to war I ask, what’s left to prove? mrp

posted by Pence Press Office # 3:44 AM