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Iraq | |
Iraqi drone âcould drop chemicals on troopsâ | |
2003-03-08 | |
A REPORT declassified by the United Nations yesterday contained a hidden bombshell with the revelation that inspectors have recently discovered an undeclared Iraqi drone with a wingspan of 7.45m, suggesting an illegal range that could threaten Iraqâs neighbours with chemical and biological weapons. A new use for a Mig-29? US officials were outraged that Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, did not inform the Security Council about the drone, or remotely piloted vehicle, in his oral presentation to Foreign Ministers and tried to bury it in a 173-page single-spaced report distributed later in the day. The omission raised serious questions about Dr Blixâs objectivity. "Quick, Ethel, my pills!" âRecent inspections have also revealed the existence of a drone with a wingspan of 7.45m that has not been declared by Iraq,â the report said. âOfficials at the inspection site stated that the drone had been test-flown But never more than 150 km away, eh Blixie? In another section of the declassified report, the inspectors give warning that Iraq still has spraying devices and drop tanks that could be used in dispersing chemical and biological agents from aircraft. âA large number of drop tanks of various types, both imported and locally manufactured, are available and could be modified,â it says. This won't work for them. The drone is too small to carry enough anthrax or VX to be more than a nuisance for our guys. But it'd be right dandy for attacking the Kuwaiti civilians. General Powell resorted to reading passages from the paper out loud in the Council chamber. He pointed out that it chronicled nearly 30 times when Iraq had failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate its claims, and 17 instances when inspectors uncovered evidence that contradicted those claims. But his draft copy, dating from a meeting of the inspectorsâ advisory board last week, did not contain the crucial passage about the new drone.
And this isn't a causus belli because ... | |
Posted by:Steve White |