| Submit your comments on this article | |||||
| Axis of Evil | |||||
| Iraq ’preparing for chemical war’ | |||||
| 2003-01-24 | |||||
| Iraqi documents obtained by the BBC indicate that Baghdad is equipping key units with protection against chemical weapons. (sarcasm alert)why would they do that? they said they don't have any, and we're not going to use any "We know from multiple sources that Saddam has ordered any scientist who cooperates during interviews will be killed," said Paul Wolfowitz, US Deputy Defence Secretary.
The hand-written papers, said to have been smuggled out by the Iraqi opposition, refer to new chemical warfare suits to protect soldiers and distribution of the drug atropine to counter the effects of nerve gas. "No, we needed the atropine....to party with, that's why we ordered so many self-adminstering kits...yeah ...that's the ticket" The notes, passed on by the opposition Iraqi National Coalition, also included details for attacking ships in the Gulf. Commenting on the reported Iraqi plans the BBC's defence correspondent Paul Adams says "this is not necessarily true - but it's very likely. American and British planners have speculated on the possibility of Iraq using drones to spray chemical weapons on coalition troops, but there is no conclusive proof this has been done." they won't work after the EMP tomahawks deploy "They recognise there's a real possibility that the Iraqis will try to take them on that way. Military commanders don't regard Iraq's use of chemical weapons as a likely conclusive factor in the war." it will, however, play a factor in the warcrimes trials, hangings The Iraqi National Coalition is a group of former Iraqi army officers who have turned against Saddam Hussein and are now living in exile. The Secretary General of the coalition, Tawfik al-Yassiri - a former brigadier-general - told the BBC's Today programme that the documents originated from serving members of the Iraqi military. KEY DATES"We have members of our organisation in most of the camps and cities in Iraq, from soldiers to generals," he said. Mr al-Yassiri said the information had been verified through various sources. Iraq's Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard are among the recipients of special suits and atropine, according to the documents. A former arms inspector, Bill Tierney, told Today that "if both these two units have new equipment, then it would indicate that they are prepared to use chemical weapons".
The report of Iraqi war preparations is bound to intrigue UN weapons inspectors who don't have a clue about anything Iraq's been doing, the BBC's Rageh Omaar reports from Baghdad. DEPLOYMENT DETAILSAccording to a UK Government report last year and UN inspectors' findings, Iraq has undeclared stocks of VX and sarin nerve agent. It is thought Iraq could deploy such chemicals quickly.
Meanwhile, the US Government has been stepping up its case for tougher action against Saddam. Wait til Blix reports nothing found, then the "Adlai Stevenson moment" when we produce our own evidence In a key speech in New York, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz recited a long list of instances in which, he said, Iraq was still lying about and concealing its weapons programmes.
Earlier in Baghdad, Iraqi officials had said they were encouraging scientists to speak to the UN, but six had so far resisted efforts to question them alone. "We did our best to push the scientists but they refused such interviews without the presence of representatives of Iraq's National Monitoring Directorate," Iraq's chief liaison officer Hossam Mohammed Amin told a news conference.
The weapons inspectors are due to present their crucial report to the Security Council on 27 January. then get the hell outta Dodge | |||||
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #8 Commisioner of Major League Baseball? He certainly knows how to strike out. |
| Posted by: john 2003-01-24 18:39:54 |
| #7 Observation: if Iraq uses chemical weapons in the war, will that make France & Germany look stupid? |
| Posted by: me 2003-01-24 17:33:25 |
| #6 Missing key date: FEB. 1 - New Moon |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-01-24 13:32:24 |
| #5 Mr. Blix is fully qualified for many high ranking positions, like, Commisioner of Major League Baseball. He can reopen the investigation of Pete Rose. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-01-24 13:32:16 |
| #4 Now that France has blown off the Security Council, Blix may as well dust of his resume. I'm sure Saddam would offer him a reference. |
| Posted by: john 2003-01-24 13:07:21 |
| #3 Like with everything else, certain Europeans insisted that UN inspections were done first but with American help, ie. intelligence. Americans said ok, lets see what they can do by themselves. And now we can see exactly what the UN can do by itself... NOTHING! like with everything else. |
| Posted by: Rw 2003-01-24 13:00:57 |
| #2 Hans's half-assing his responsibility to produce a report, just like they're half-assing their inspections... should be noted by Bush in the State Of The Union announcement of war, dontcha think? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-01-24 12:15:08 |
| #1 There will _not_ be a full report on Jan. 27. "Blix told The Associated Press Thursday that his assessment of Iraq's compliance over the past two months will be presented Monday to the Security Council as a speech, rather than a formal report, and won't include samples taken during searches for weapons in Iraq." http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030123_1855.html |
| Posted by: growler 2003-01-24 10:41:15 |