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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Chemicals Not Found in Iraq Warheads |
| 2004-07-04 |
| EFL Sixteen rocket warheads found last week in south-central Iraq by Polish troops did not contain deadly chemicals, a coalition spokesman said yesterday, but U.S. and Polish officials agreed that insurgents loyal to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and foreign terrorist fighters are trying to buy such old weapons or purchase the services of Iraqi scientists who know how to make them. The Coalition Press Information Center in Baghdad said in a statement yesterday that the 122-milimeter rocket rounds, which initially showed traces of sarin, "were all empty and tested negative for any type of chemicals." The statement came just hours after two senior Polish defense officials told reporters in Warsaw, based on preliminary reports, that the rocket rounds contained deadly sarin and that actions by the Polish unit in Iraq kept them from being purchased by militants fighting coalition forces. Yesterday’s coalition release also said that two other 122-milimeter rounds, found by the Poles on June 16 with help from an Iraqi informer, tested positive for small quantities of sarin but were "so deteriorated" that they would have had "limited to no impact if used by insurgents against coalition forces." Charles Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, told Fox News on June 24 that "some" old sarin and mustard rounds have been discovered in scattered places, demonstrating "that the Iraqi declarations were wrong at least in . . . amount." But Duelfer cautioned he was not ready to make any judgment whether there were any "still concealed" military-capable stockpiles. Dukaczewski said the Polish unit in Iraq paid an undisclosed sum of money to buy the rockets last month after an informer there told the Poles that militant groups were seeking to buy such weapons for up to $5,000 apiece. "We bought all the shells available," Dukaczewski said. In Washington yesterday, a senior intelligence official said he was unaware that the Poles purchased rather than found the weapons. He said the United States had been told they were discovered at several sites, mixed in with conventional 122-milimeter rockets and without any distinctive markings. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #10 I like it...especially if W reveals it in October, or maybe during the Dem convention. The DNC/DU/LLL collective heads would burst, like in Mars Attacks. Ack, Ack-Ack! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-04 5:21:23 PM |
| #9 AzCat: Now *that* theory I like. It's plausable, clever without being convoluted, and appeals to both left-wing and right-wing prejudices - to the left, that the adminstration can't control stockpiles, to the right, that they've lying to us with the very best of intentions. It's also thoroughly unfalsifiable with OS material. I nominate this theory for "new WMD meme of the month". |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2004-07-04 5:02:05 PM |
| #8 Best guess: They're sitting on as much of the info as possible because they don't want the enemy to know that there're caches of readily available chemical weapons all over Iraq. "Nope, nuthin' to see here, move along." |
| Posted by: AzCat 2004-07-04 1:52:06 PM |
| #7 According to this report in Agence France Press (no less!), the Poles are sticking by their story that the WMDs were there: Poland stands by 'poison gas' find Iraq |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-07-04 12:28:12 PM |
| #6 That's an interesting theory, Anonymoose. Would certainly explain why there have been dozens of WMD "finds" reported by troops in the field and the press, then denied by the authorities after further "testing". But I can't picture the administration hounding itself to electoral defeat on the basis of a technicality. There have been a number of later UN Security Council resolutions which would cover our presence in the country. The occupation legitimacy issue is already in play. A better guess would be that they're holding the various discoveries in reserve to wait until the Kerry campaign commits itself to a "no WMD" soundbite. That would explain Kerry's caginess about covering his bases in case WMD are found. Meh, that's a cynical, goofy way to view the world, assuming that both campaigns are lying through their teeth, and distorting our pursuit of the war. The Razor would demand that we simply conclude that the WMD testing equipment used in the field is terribly inaccurate. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2004-07-04 12:04:48 PM |
| #5 Given that our *side*, not just the US, have been finding huge stores of what clearly are chemical weapons, stored in bunkers and ready to us *as* chemical weapons, and *with* the means to deliver them, and *yet* we ADAMANTLY DENY that they ARE chemical weapons, doesn't that raise a question? We are not doing this to entertain ourselves. The UN resolution that the US used to invade Iraq, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2002/sc2002.htm states that the PURPOSE of the US invasion is to insure compliance to the weapons inspection regime. In other words, if the US ever finds WMDs OR ever certifies that there are NO WMDs, it has no further UN justification for being in Iraq at all. Which means, bottom line, that until Iraq has an elected government that officially requests the US to stay in Iraq with a 'Status of Forces' agreement, like with Germany, there WILL BE NO WMDs found, nor will the US certify that Iraq is "WMD FREE." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-07-04 10:05:02 AM |
| #4 Damn CIA agents ... |
| Posted by: Anonymous14993 2004-07-04 5:36:37 AM |
| #3 The do seem inordinately pleased, don't they... Fading to irrelevance, they spin and clip and twist and nudge for all they are worth. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-04 4:46:03 AM |
| #2 Note the press source; The Washington Post .. |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-07-04 4:38:40 AM |
| #1 At $5K a pop, as long as the game lasts, the Arabs will lead the Poles to more such finds, methinks. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-04 4:38:13 AM |