Writes Eric Margolis: "US Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Pete Hoekstra, both Republican conservatives staged a press conference this week to crow weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. Pro-war groups are making a great rumpus about this canard.
"It is deeply disturbing to see two American lawmakers promoting an absurd lie to the public and media, and making fools of themselves.
"Five hundred old artillery shells containing toxic agents mustard gas and nerve gas were found in Iraq, leftovers from the 1980-1988 war against Iran. These artillery shells were of medium calibre, to be fired from howitzers with a maximum rage of 18 miles. Their minimum 16-year old content were likely rendered largely inert by age and environment.
"More important, these were battlefield weapons intended for use against Iranian troops. Calling them weapons of mass destruction is a nonsense. We might as well call machine guns wmd's.
"Embarrassingly for the senator and congressman, the components to make the mustard and nerve gas in the shells came from our allies in Europe - Germany, Holland, Belgium and Italy - and was secretly financed by the US Dept of Agriculture through Italian banks. The legislators who made this claim are either fools or charlatans - or both."
