Subway franchise

February 22, 2003 5:31 AM

Subway franchise"CBS) Plans for a Baghdad subway were used instead to build underground tunnels to hide Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, says one of the Iraqi dictator’s former top scientists. Dr. Hussein Shahristani, once Iraq’s top nuclear scientist, speaks to Steve Kroft for a 60 Minutes report to be broadcast " This Suday [note: title mine}
posted by Postroad (12 comments total)

i thought you meant another subway.

that's not a pop cooler on the wall over there, that's a door leading down to the "basement of mass destruction."

.. with paul and linda mccartney, of course.
posted by mrplab at 6:22 AM on February 22, 2003

Postroad - I wonder about the timing. also: maybe they exist. Or maybe they are destined to be viewed by historians in the same vein as the infamous "Kuwait baby incubator atrocity" fabrications spread by the US before the first Gulf War.

Defensive subway systems? What of the widely acknowledged offensive WMD threats - by North Korea, Pakistan (through the Islamic militant-Pakistani ISI connection), Iran, etc?

I don't think that these rumoured Baghdad military subways would fit the "WMD" definition. Loosely speaking, they would be "weapons of apocalyptic defense".

.
posted by troutfishing at 8:22 AM on February 22, 2003

Uh Trout, I think the implication is that WMDs might be stored in the subway tunnels.

Of course I could be wrong, in which case the subway could be classified as a Weapon of Mass Transit.
posted by kfury at 9:10 AM on February 22, 2003

I THOUGHT Jared looked suspicious.
posted by machaus at 9:32 AM on February 22, 2003

Semantically speaking, Jared did away with, or 'destroyed' a great deal of his previous mass. Therefore Subway could be technically be labelled a weapon of 'mass destruction.'

Perhaps Saddam just wants to shed a couple of pounds?
posted by umberto at 10:07 AM on February 22, 2003

Point of correction: I have read in at least two places that the WMD, all but nuclear stuff, had been hidden underground and thus has not been detected as yet. This scientist makes a claim--be it true or not--and is to be on 60 Minutes. I imagine producers of that show take this with a bit of credulity or they would not bother to risk a very fine reputation by giving a segment to "just another nut case."
posted by Postroad at 10:53 AM on February 22, 2003

You give far too much credibility to 60 Minutes. This is, after all, the show that has provided bogus reports on heroin smuggling and has been accused several times of lie-telling, plagurism, and hype.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:17 AM on February 22, 2003

Well, 5, a general distrust of all media is a good idea but I am willing to watch and reserve judgement for when (like it or not) our troops go in...if it is there, it will be found and reported to justify going in. If it is not there, we will not hear about it...I guess then we are on same wavelength here. I posted merely to alert folks of what will be on that I thought might be of interest, stuff to be evaluated by us.
posted by Postroad at 4:29 PM on February 22, 2003

Hmm... Interesting slant: Invading Iraq is the quickest way to find out if they have WMD, right? After all, they'd probably use them on our troops before they could be discovered and destroyed...
posted by kfury at 6:01 PM on February 22, 2003

Oh, not dissing the FPP, Postroad, just the last comment re: "a very fine reputation." They've got a pretty good rep, for sure. I'm not sure it's a very fine rep.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:00 PM on February 22, 2003

kfury - So the WMD's are stored in the subway tunnels. And I have some gasoline for my lawnmower in my basement..... Delivery is little problem here......who are these supposed WMD's threatening?
posted by troutfishing at 7:34 PM on February 22, 2003

They're threatening The Secret World of Og.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:37 PM on February 22, 2003