GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--Feb 5, 2004 -- David Kay is the main man who has proven, at least so far, the real Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) found in Iraq exist in the minds of the people, not in stockpiles of hard, physical evidence.

      The top weapons sleuth for the United States, Kay, a 63-year-old conservative with a lifetime of experience of monitoring WMD, led a 1,400-strong search party team to find the elusive stockpiles of weapons that would curdle a human's skin on contact, or gas thousands to death in a single gulp of precious air.
        But the man, tapped by C.I.A Director George Tenet to dispel the unsettling fact that no WMD had been found, came up empty handed.   Kay's Iraq Survey Group spent seven months scouring millions of documents and interviewing thousands of Iraqis, and last week announced it had uncovered "no WMD."    Worse, Kay reported it was "highly unlikely" to turn up any in the future.
         He offered a silver bullet for critics seeking ammunition to cripple the credibility of the Administration over the reasons to go to war in Iraq, and, at the same time, delivered a resounding fist to the vulnerable gut of American intelligence.     Everyone is wiping the egg off their faces, to the glee of those who want to believe America falsified its reasons for deposing Saddam Hussein.
         It would be easy to wipe the windshield and think the worst of "government."  
         But, if the absence of physical WMD makes the critics of American Iraqi war policy leap with glee, perhaps they should take a long, hard moment to examine what a "real" WMD is all about.
         Let's pretend for a moment that a WMD has but one purpose--to inflict Fear, Intimidation and Complacency into the minds and hearts of its intended or potential victims.

       When Saddam Hussein gassed tens of thousands of Kurds--innocent women and children among others--his goal was to strike the populace with the Triad of Terrorism--Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.    His message was clear:  "Mess with me and you'll die a horrible death."
        He reinforced his vow with torture and rape chambers, and filled the streets with his own form of Nazi brown shirts who patrolled the cities and towns, reminding those who thought about opposing the tyrant that any resistance to his rule would end up in a holocaust to the person's body and family.
        Saddam injected into the people of Iraq the worst WMD--Terror Thoughts.
        Poisoning peoples' minds with Fear, Intimidation and Complacency is just as fierce as dropping bombs on them, or releasing a deadly virus.

       Injecting the Beast of Terror into a child's mind, or surrounding a parent with the threat of his or her children being raped, tortured or beaten for opposing the policies of a single leader who demands absolute following at the expense of everyone else, is a WMD.
        The human brain cell count exceeds five billion.   Between the cells are synapses, bridges that connect one cell with another and form pathways in which memories are stored.   Poisons of the mind can be easily installed into both children and adults, by making Fear, Intimidation and Complacency the ruling emotions to life itself.
        We might call these Weapons Of Mind Destruction, for in effect, they seek to destroy the Principles of Vigilance--Courage, Conviction and Right Actions that benefit the Children's Children's Children.
        Day by day, the mind, bombarded by Fear, Intimidation and Complacency (the sense of powerlessness to change what is), can be tortured into becoming what it is most commonly radiated by. 
        Remove ourselves from Iraq and transport our example to a home in America where the parents of the children abuse them physically and emotionally.   The children are told they are "worthless," or that they are "ugly," or "stupid," or "will never amount to anything."  How long will it take the brain cells to believe they are what they are told by their parents? 

        Take Complacent parents for another example.   They let their children do what they want, with no direction.   The children lock their doors and parents walk by, ignoring what is going on within.   They don't nurture the child, embrace the child's emotions, preen and comb the child's character.    Inside the child's room is a dungeon.   The child believes he or she is a victim of society.    He or she plots revenge against the "other kids" for teasing or alienating them.   So the child plots to take a gun to school and shoot all those who the child feels have "victimized them."   
         A TerrorThought, left unchecked, can grow into a cancer in the minds of children and adults.    When Fear, Intimidation and Complacency begin to germinate, without antidote, without counterbalance of Courage, Conviction and Right Actions, the Beast of Terror rips and tears at the soul of the person.   Like a poison gas or killer virus, the mind is corrupted.   It loses its ability to stand up to the Beast of Terror for there is no effort, no balance, to counter the Beast's ravages.
       These TerrorThoughts are not included in David Kay's report regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.    Iraq's population of nearly 25 million, and all their thoughts leading up to the deposing of Saddam Hussein, were the core of the WMD.
       If one were to look into the minds of all the people in Iraq prior to the launch of American and Allied force in March, 2003, the poisons and viruses of Terrorism were flowing freely.    The infection of Fear, Intimidation and Complacency was being passed from mother to child.    TerrorThoughts were the manna of the day.
      Those have been removed with the capture of Saddam.  Now, a new Terrorism exists--the struggle for freedom from slavery.    But this form of Terrorism is different.   It is being delivered by factions seeking power, not from absolute power seeking to maintain itself.
      Each Iraqi has a choice today--to fight for the future of the children's rights.   Under Saddam Hussein, he controlled that right, subordinating it from all the parents.  

      His WMD was the barrel of a gun, or the threat of a torture room, or his past behavior of killing thousands of innocent people just to make a point.
      The issue is simple.  What do we consider a WMD?   Is it a vat of deadly chemicals stored in a warhead buried in the sand?   Or, is it the abusive tip of a parent's tongue lashing at the self-worth of a child?
      Is a cruel employer who makes his people worry about who is going to get fired next?
      Is it a husband or wife who berates the other to watch them squirm?  To exercise power over the other for the sake of power itself?
      Is it as simple of Complacency--that neglect or oversight--about hugging a child or sitting with him or her and sharing one's innermost feelings rather than telling the child:  "I'm too busy.  Don't bother me now?"
      A WMD takes many forms, but its result is always the same.   Whether it is a canister of anthrax, or parental intolerance to a child's thirst to be loved, or an employers belief he or she is the hammer and all the workers are nails, the infection of Fear, Intimidation and Complacency underscores the WMD.
      The creation of TerrorThoughts is, in and of itself, sufficient evidence of WMD.
      While there are many issues at stake over the question of finding WMD in a physical sense in Iraq, there is little doubt that the greatest WMD--tyranny and oppression--have been found and eliminated.
      The Iraqi people are free today to decide their future.   Prior to the War in Iraq, they were slaves.
      Their minds were held captive.   They inhaled TerrorThoughts when they rose in the morning and went to bed at night.   

      In the greater sense of liberation, we have found the WMD and replaced them with Courage, Conviction and Right Actions for the Children's Children's Children.    The Iraqi people are on a path toward dictating their own destiny after more than a quarter century of tyranny by the Beast of Terror.
       We need to look at the lesson in Iraq and ask ourselves:  "Are we Weapons of Mass Destruction?   Are we creating Fear, Intimidation and Complacency in our homes, in our jobs, in the world by surrendering to or promoting TerrorThoughts in ourselves or others?
         If we ask these questions we will come to one conclusion.   To rid ourselves of potential WMD, we need to be Vigilant.  We need to take the Pledge of Vigilance and prepare ourselves each day to neutralize the Beast of Terror who stalks us all in nefarious ways.
        And, when we hear the clamor over whether WMD were found in Iraq or not, we need to remember the 25 million people who lived with daily TerrorThoughts and ask whether the real threat was a vial of poisons, or the feeling of powerlessness over Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.

       Iraq is a symbol of our need to battle Terrorism at home not just abroad.   If we are to take the lesson to heart, we will realize that the greatest of all victories has been to release the people of Iraq from a "rule of Terror" and steering them toward a "rule of Vigilance."
       And, we need to look in the mirror and ask:  "Where are my WMD?"
       Below is a WMD Inventory for you to take.  See if you can find any toxins in your system that need to be neutralized by the Pledge of Vigilance.    And remember, whatever you might find is contagious.  It can be transmitted to your friends, loved ones and all society.  Worse, it can be passed on from one generation to another.

Feb. 4--The Irony Of Iraq Body-Count Politics