WMD in Syria?

Friday, January 27, 2006

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

The number two general in Saddam Hussein's air force says Iraq moved its weapons of mass destruction into Syria before the U.S. invasion. In a new book titled "Saddam's Secrets," former general Georges Sada recounts the story of two airline pilots who told him Saddam's Republican Guard loaded chemical weapons onto two converted civilian aircraft, which the pilots then flew into neighboring Syria under the guise of humanitarian relief.

Sada tells FOX News he believes the Syrian government knows exactly where the weapons are saying, "I am sure that these weapons have landed in Damascus. Where could they have gone?"

Saddam, by the way, says he's going to sue President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for "destroying Iraq," saying the two leaders committed war crimes against unarmed Iraqi civilians, tortured Iraqi prisoners, and destroyed Iraq's cultural heritage.

Related

Public Opinion on Iran

A majority of Americans, 51 percent, would now support air strikes to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, while a plurality would support air strikes coupled with a ground invasion. That according to a new FOX News poll, which shows that 56 percent of Americans think Iran poses an immediate or near-term threat to the United States. Just seven percent said the country is not a danger to U.S. security.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of those polled said they are very or somewhat confident in the Bush administration's ability to handle the situation with Iran, but just 46 percent say the same about the United Nations.

Middle East Makeover

The man Hamas paid $180,000 to run its media campaign for the Palestinian parliamentary elections says his job was to portray Hamas as something other than a group of armed gunmen bent on destroying Israel. Nashat Aqtash tells the Guardian that Hamas "does not believe in terrorism or killing civilians" -- and to get the message out, advised Hamas officials not to denounce Israelis as Jews, but instead as occupying oppressors.

Some other advice to Hamas leaders: Don't mention the destruction of Israel, play up Palestinian suffering and stop celebrating the deaths of innocent people. Aqtash also told Hamas candidate Muhammad Abu Tabir to re-color his dyed red beard because he said it made people laugh.

Wal-Mart and the Windy City

The Chicago City Council rejected Wal-Mart's application to build a store on the city's south side 18 months ago after local labor leaders complained about the retail giant's low wages and lack of employee benefits. So Wal-mart opened its store just one block outside the city limits, in the south side suburb of Evergreen park and is expected to generate $1 million in sales and property tax for the village in its first year alone.

So have prospective employees complained about Wal-Mart's working conditions? The store has 325 jobs available for which it's received 25,000 applications.

— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report

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