Were WMDs slipped out?

[Slim]

Were WMDs slipped out?

FINAL U.S. REPORT INDICATES NO TRANSFER

By AP

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2005/01/18/901975-sun.html

THE FINAL U.S. intelligence report on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is expected to address whether they may have been smuggled out of the country before the war. Top U.S. administration officials have speculated that chemical, biological or radiological weapons may have been smuggled out, and the question is one of the unresolved issues on WMDs. The report is due next month.

Intelligence and congressional officials say they have not seen any information indicating either WMDs or significant amounts of components and equipment were transferred from Iraq to neighbouring Syria, Jordan or elsewhere.

The administration acknowledged last week that the search for banned weapons is largely over. None was found.

Officials familiar with the search say U.S. authorities have found no evidence that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein transferred WMDs or related equipment out of Iraq.


God, the press are sharp...It only took them HOW LONG to start speculating about how the previous Iraqi regime slipped the WMD out B4 the U.S. showed up!

 

[FredDaHead]

Notice how they announce in big fat letters "FINAL REPORT INDICATES NO TRANSFER" even though the report isn't even finished, and is expected to be out in A MONTH? Gotta love the media, eh?

 

[GDawg]

Whats the point of having WMDs if all they are going to do is get you into an unprecedented world of hurt?

Suppose Saddam had used his WMD during he invasion...the world would have backed the Americans and the US would have probably retaliated with limited nuclear strikes.

Again, transfer them to someone else and the same thing will happen. Besides, would it really be a smart idea to move the WMD to a country bordering Israel? Israel would find out and deal with it in their own special way, we can count on that. Remember when Iraq had a nuclear reactor once? Yeah, Israel dealt with that foolishness.

Transfer them to terrorists, once again...whatever countries were found to have collaborated will probably be punished by a good 99% of the nations on earth.

I think Saddam was bluffing about the WMD, and giving the inspectors the run around to look as though he possessed WMD, his attempt to save face in the middle east and keep the Americans guessing, obviously it didn't have the original effect he desired, but ultimately it made Britain and the US look like fools.

 

[a_majoor]

It is very hard to say what has happened. Saddam's actions prior to OIF or even the Persian Gulf War were indicative of an attempt to gain WMD capabilities. Even in the final days and weeks prior to OIF, there were strange actions which "could" be interpreted as attempts to dismantle and move WMD and related equipment out of Iraq. Even the infamous "300 tons of explosives" story sprung by anti-Bush media in the final days prior to the election were rapidly debunked by the US military, which had observed a truck convoy of the right size to ship 300 tons of explosives leaving the facility in question and heading to Syria. As hostilities had not commenced, no further action was taken.

Given the past behavior of the Ba'athist regiem, this is not outside the bounds of possibilities, and there have certainly been persistent rumors that Syria is indeed in possession of the WMD or equipment, although to what end has never been made clear.

Certainly it pays to be careful given the consequences of being wrong. Confirmation will be difficult at best, remember although South Africa was rumored to have the atomic bomb for years, it was still a huge shock when they finally came out and admitted they had six of the things, and were in the  process of dismantling them.

 

[Frmr_Cpl]

Conformation of WMD's in Iraq should have been straight forward.

December 20, 1983. Donald Rumsfeld , then a civilian and now Defense Secretary, meets with Saddam Hussein to assure him of US friendship and materials support. Keep in mind Rummy is a man that Kissinger called the most ruthless man he had ever met. Now take a moment and think of the power he wields.

The US Department of Commerce licenses 70 biological exports to Iraq between May of 1985 and 1989, including at least 21 batches of lethal strains of anthrax.

March, 1986The United States with Great Britain block all Security Council resolutions condemning Iraq's use of chemical weapons, and on March 21 the US becomes the only country refusing to sign a Security Council statement condemning Iraq's use of these weapons.

May, 1986. US Department of Commerce approves shipment of weapons grade botulin poison to Iraq.

 

[a_majoor]

If we're going to go about bashing people, Italy, Germany and especially France shipped a lot of nuclear technology to Iraq, without anyone apparently asking what all of this was for. A certain Jacques Chiraque became very good friends with a certain Saddam Hussein as a result of these high level contacts and multi billion dollar contracts, a friendship which apparently paid off many years later when certain countries used aggressive diplomacy within and without the UN to prevent actions against Iraq.

The real problems are multi-fold:

1. Ba'athist Iraq had acquired and used WMD in the past, and based on their ruthless behavior against both foreign nationals and their own citizens, showed little evidence of restraint in their behavior. Past behavior is a useful indicator of future intent

2. The amount of WMD which Collin Powell outlined in his UN presentation sounds impressive, until you realize this could be broken down into a few tanker trucks like the ones you see on the 401. This is a bit unlikely given the toxicity of chemical and biological agents, so significant amounts could be dispersed for storage in a package the size of a barracks box.

3. The Ba'athists openly supported Palestinian terrorist groups, and there is lots of circumstantial evidence they were in contact with the Al Qaeda network. (To my knowledge, the Chechzs have never recanted their story that Mohamed Atta was observed meeting an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague a few weeks prior to 9/11). Given factors 1 and 2; there is a great deal of reason to fear Ba'athist Iraq was contemplating the use of terrorist networks as the delivery agents for WMD attacks.

4. Prior to the start of OIF, there were sightings of convoys of trucks heading into Syria. For what purpose has never been determined.

Unfortunately, it is logically impossible to prove a negative; but it could be possible to account for enough of the known inventories to make this problem go away. Despite all the foaming at the mouth of the anti-war crowd, this is the one thing which has never been done.

 

[squealiox]

it's strange that saddam's regime never resorted to using these supposed wmds in the desparation of defeat, or in the 20 months since.
the evidence of an imminent iraqi wmd threat facing the west was unconvincing before the invasion, and by now it's grown a little stale, to say the least.
an iraqi wmd attack on the west would have been suicidal, which is exactly why the only real threat facing us is from non-state actors, who do not have to worry about losing power. that is why failed states (like afghanistan, or iraq now) are an infinitely bigger physical threat than merely nasty states (like iran, saudi arabia, north korea, or iraq then).

 

[GAP]

This just came in on the WMD's found a week or so ago

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2006 - The 500 munitions discovered throughout Iraq since 2003 and discussed in a National Ground Intelligence Center report meet the criteria of weapons of mass destruction, the center's commander said here today.

"These are chemical weapons as defined under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and yes ... they do constitute weapons of mass destruction," Army Col. John Chu told the House Armed Services Committee.

The Chemical Weapons Convention is an arms control agreement which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. It was signed in 1993 and entered into force in 1997.

The munitions found contain sarin and mustard gases, Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said. Sarin attacks the neurological system and is potentially lethal.

"Mustard is a blister agent (that) actually produces burning of any area (where) an individual may come in contact with the agent," he said. It also is potentially fatal if it gets into a person's lungs.

The munitions addressed in the report were produced in the 1980s, Maples said. Badly corroded, they could not currently be used as originally intended, Chu added.

While that's reassuring, the agent remaining in the weapons would be very valuable to terrorists and insurgents, Maples said. "We're talking chemical agents here that could be packaged in a different format and have a great effect," he said, referencing the sarin-gas attack on a Japanese subway in the mid-1990s.

This is true even considering any degradation of the chemical agents that may have occurred, Chu said. It's not known exactly how sarin breaks down, but no matter how degraded the agent is, it's still toxic.

"Regardless of (how much material in the weapon is actually chemical agent), any remaining agent is toxic," he said. "Anything above zero (percent agent) would prove to be toxic, and if you were exposed to it long enough, lethal."

Though about 500 chemical weapons - the exact number has not been released publicly - have been found, Maples said he doesn't believe Iraq is a "WMD-free zone."

"I do believe the former regime did a very poor job of accountability of munitions, and certainly did not document the destruction of munitions," he said. "The recovery program goes on, and I do not believe we have found all the weapons."

The Defense Intelligence Agency director said locating and disposing of chemical weapons in Iraq is one of the most important tasks servicemembers in the country perform.

Maples added searches are ongoing for chemical weapons beyond those being conducted solely for force protection.

There has been a call for a complete declassification of the National Ground Intelligence Center's report on WMD in Iraq. Maples said he believes the director of national intelligence is still considering this option, and has asked Maples to look into producing an unclassified paper addressing the subject matter in the center's report.

Much of the classified matter was slated for discussion in a closed forum after the open hearings this morning.


Biography:

Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, USA [http://www.dia.mil/history/histories/Directors/index.html]


Related Sites:

Defense Intelligence Agency [http://www.dia.mil/]

National Ground Intelligence Center [http://avenue.org/ngic/]


_______________________________________________________
NOTE: View the original version of this web page on DefenseLINK,
the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2006/20060629_5547.html.

 

[Journeyman]

.... and if you were exposed to it long enough, lethal."

Yep, just like sunshine.

Maples added searches are ongoing for chemical weapons beyond those being conducted solely for force protection.

I believe he means "desperately searching" - - sorry, still no smoking gun

 

[couchcommander]

Badly corroded, they could not currently be used as originally intended, Chu added

+1 to Journeyman

 

[Colin Parkinson]

If we're going to go about bashing people, Italy, Germany and especially France shipped a lot of nuclear technology to Iraq, without anyone apparently asking what all of this was for. A certain Jacques Chiraque became very good friends with a certain Saddam Hussein as a result of these high level contacts and multi billion dollar contracts, a friendship which apparently paid off many years later when certain countries used aggressive diplomacy within and without the UN to prevent actions against Iraq.

The real problems are multi-fold:

1. Ba'athist Iraq had acquired and used WMD in the past, and based on their ruthless behavior against both foreign nationals and their own citizens, showed little evidence of restraint in their behavior. Past behavior is a useful indicator of future intent

2. The amount of WMD which Collin Powell outlined in his UN presentation sounds impressive, until you realize this could be broken down into a few tanker trucks like the ones you see on the 401. This is a bit unlikely given the toxicity of chemical and biological agents, so significant amounts could be dispersed for storage in a package the size of a barracks box.

3. The Ba'athists openly supported Palestinian terrorist groups, and there is lots of circumstantial evidence they were in contact with the Al Qaeda network. (To my knowledge, the Chechzs have never recanted their story that Mohamed Atta was observed meeting an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague a few weeks prior to 9/11). Given factors 1 and 2; there is a great deal of reason to fear Ba'athist Iraq was contemplating the use of terrorist networks as the delivery agents for WMD attacks.

4. Prior to the start of OIF, there were sightings of convoys of trucks heading into Syria. For what purpose has never been determined.

Unfortunately, it is logically impossible to prove a negative; but it could be possible to account for enough of the known inventories to make this problem go away. Despite all the foaming at the mouth of the anti-war crowd, this is the one thing which has never been done.

It's so nice to see a logical comment on this subject, like a breath of fresh air.