Article

2003-02-13 India-Pakistan

Pakistan urged to learn from Iraq's experience

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Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-02-13 04:24 pm|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Fred, what's this about us supplying stuff to Iraq---tangible things, not intel---during the Iran-Iraq war? I've heard it was everything from actual bioweapons [very bad] to dual-use medical supplies [questionable, at worst]. Do you know of a good site for reference?

I've tried googling on it, but I only get about ten thousand hysterical wacko hits.

Yeah, yeah, I know other countries (like, oh---FRANCE) supplied much more, and much more dubious, things; but I'd like some hard facts to hit idiots over the head with.

Posted by Angie Schultz 2003-02-13 17:33:36|| [darkblogules.blogspot.com] 2003-02-13 17:33:36|| Front Page Top

#2 My feeling is that any supply of materials to Iraq for their chem weapons program would have involved dual-use materials. Sammy's first usage against the Iranians involved mustard gas and, if I remember correctly, chlorine. Chlorine has a lot of legitimate uses, and mustard gas isn't very complicated to make; both are WWI technology. Mustard gas was actually "invented" in 1860, by mixing ethelyne with chlorine. Sarin is a "fluorinated organophosphorous compound" - doesn't sound real complicated to make, not as complicated as gasoline. VX, I think, is more complicated.

I don't know anything about the bio agents, but I suspect that data exchange was in the realm of disease control.

NBC components were embargoed in the 1980s, at the latest, and I'm pretty sure the embargo was in effect through the beginning of Gulf War I. Obviously it was breached, but I doubt if it was with government connivance, despite the theorizing at Indymedia and its clones.

You can find some released CIA reports - some of them look like they're barely out of the raw intel stage - here, and there is some non-hysterical information at Gulf Web.

Posted by Fred 2003-02-13 20:43:52|| 2003-02-13 20:43:52|| Front Page Top

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