Article

2003-10-01 Iraq

Kuwait foils the smuggling of chemical and biological weapons from Iraq

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Posted by Dan Darling 2003-10-01 5:04:29 PM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I'm not sure there's a big enough grain of salt on the planet for this item, but I suppose we'll see...

Posted by snellenr 2003-10-1 5:26:45 PM|| 2003-10-1 5:26:45 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Now THAT'S what I call an "October Surprise" if it's true.

Jim and Valerie who???

And how do they know the $worth of the goods???

Posted by Anonymous 2003-10-1 5:58:05 PM|| 2003-10-1 5:58:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 PLEASE-OH PLEASE be legit!!!

Posted by Yosemite Sam 2003-10-1 6:13:11 PM|| 2003-10-1 6:13:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 Could just be a scam by some crooks on terrorist wannabes...

Posted by Laurence of the Rats 2003-10-1 6:15:32 PM|| 2003-10-1 6:15:32 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Lets see if *this* gets mentioned on the evening news....

Posted by CrazyFool 2003-10-1 6:16:01 PM|| 2003-10-1 6:16:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Have you noticed that the US is, still, offering $millions for help to catch Saddam, but nada for help to find WMDs. Could it be that such reward is not needed? one would assume that if nothing had been found, desperation would set in and rewards would be offered...

I'd rather have Saddam on the run than WMDs in the hands of post-Baathist terrorists.

Posted by Kalle (kafir forever) 2003-10-1 6:22:27 PM|| [http://radio.weblogs.com/0103811/categories/currentEvents/] 2003-10-1 6:22:27 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 And here I thought that auction on eBay was a hoax!

Posted by Dar 2003-10-1 6:30:54 PM|| 2003-10-1 6:30:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Laurence has a point...wouldn't be the 1st time that terrorists got scammed.
Also, no mention of materials being confiscated - so at this point we only have the intent to smuggle. Still, who wants to bet the unnamed European country is Frogistan?

Posted by Rex Mundi 2003-10-1 6:57:11 PM|| 2003-10-1 6:57:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Two big caveats:
Kuwait????
Doesn't sound like the safest country for these operations.
European country?
What the heck would an European country want to do with that rubbish? Not even France needs that.

Doesn't make sense to me. Probably a talk talk scam, more like the Nigerian mafia thing.

Posted by True German Ally 2003-10-1 7:21:30 PM|| 2003-10-1 7:21:30 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Rex Mundi - I was thinking of those stories about nuclear material getting pawned off on people and the way this news read reminded me of them.

Kalle - That's a good point, there is no reward for WMD. I had not noticed that before.

Posted by Laurence of the Rats 2003-10-1 7:30:26 PM|| 2003-10-1 7:30:26 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 An 'attempt to smuggle' wouldn't have to involve the physical WMD material I guess, but then it says the "smuggled weapons" would be handed over to FBI.

Posted by Plz be true! 2003-10-1 7:41:03 PM|| 2003-10-1 7:41:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 TGA, agree that Kuwait doesn't seem a logical choice, unless somebody thought the Kuwatis had been paid off to look the other way. How do Kuwait's transportation connections to Europe compare to those of other gulf states?
As to smuggling to "an unnamed European country," that's not the same as "an unnamed European government." Could have been for some terrorist cell. Also remember that "Europe" isn't just "western Europe." There's always the Balkans...

Posted by Old Grouch 2003-10-1 7:50:03 PM|| 2003-10-1 7:50:03 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Hmmm well I don't know but WHAT was actually attempted to be smugled? Chemical weapons? Biological weapons? Warheads?

FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND 'TOP SECRET'. I AM SURE AND HAVE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR ABILITY AND RELIABILITY TO PROSECUTE A TRANSACTION OF THIS GREAT MAGNITUDE INVOLVING A PENDING TRANSACTION REQUIRING MAXIIMUM CONFIDENCE.

Posted by True German Ally 2003-10-1 8:21:20 PM|| 2003-10-1 8:21:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 European country?

Algeria? Spain (Basque separatists)? France (Corsican separatists)? One of the ex-Yugoslavian countries?

Posted by Dar 2003-10-1 8:30:29 PM|| 2003-10-1 8:30:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#15

"...BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND 'TOP SECRET'..."

LOL... doesn't by some chance involve millions of dollars somebody found ln a shoebox, hmmm?

Posted by Old Grouch 2003-10-1 8:31:55 PM|| 2003-10-1 8:31:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 Grouch:
Kuwait has excellent ports, as does Saudi.

Posted by Mike 2003-10-1 8:46:31 PM|| 2003-10-1 8:46:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Dar, didn't know Algeria was part of Europe, heaven forbid. Well I guess let's see what's to the story.

Before I see hard evidence, I stick to the "WMD found in a shoebox" thing, Old Grouch...

Posted by True German Ally 2003-10-1 8:49:13 PM|| 2003-10-1 8:49:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#18 Kuwait is smart, think about the other borders. Iran - watched, Turkey - too many people busted going that way, Syria - very closely watched, Jordan - to get to a port you have to go through Israel, nope, Saudi Arabia - maybe, but they have been hunting jihadis, Kuwait - quiet, good port, open for business, lots of traffic bringing supplies in, and friend of US. Load container on Kuwait registered ship and it won't be stopped. Smart choice.
Oh, and Russia is a European country. Maybe they forgot something, or Russian mob bought it for resale.

Posted by Steve 2003-10-1 9:09:30 PM|| 2003-10-1 9:09:30 PM|| Front Page Top

#19 TGA--Argh! Of course, you're right! I meant to write "Albania"!

Posted by Dar 2003-10-1 9:15:39 PM|| 2003-10-1 9:15:39 PM|| Front Page Top

#20 Russia is a European country

As is Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine and our favourite Belarus!

Posted by Phil_B 2003-10-1 9:17:10 PM|| 2003-10-1 9:17:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#21 Could have been headed for Chechnya or is it Ukraine?? Where a lot of weapons come from? Kosovo's heating up again. The European country could just be a transfer point.

And DUH! Joe and Valerie, not Jim!

Posted by Anonymous 2003-10-1 9:20:01 PM|| 2003-10-1 9:20:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#22 What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall if Kay comes in begins his report and brings in a couple of samples that he found to present to the committee.

How big is a warhead anyway?

Posted by Anonymous 2003-10-1 9:21:09 PM|| 2003-10-1 9:21:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#23 Saddam had a fair number of 155mm rounds. Those could easily be brought in.

Posted by Dishman 2003-10-1 10:14:34 PM|| 2003-10-1 10:14:34 PM|| Front Page Top

#24 This may be a fake. Notice the Associated Press byline on the original story, yet it hasn't been picked up by any other news sites. Nor can I find it on any AP feeds.

I hope it's real, but for a 4-hour old story of such potential importance it doesn't appear to have 'wheels'.

Posted by spiffo 2003-10-1 10:38:14 PM|| 2003-10-1 10:38:14 PM|| Front Page Top

#25 The warheads and any chemical would be put on a ship - it's not the kind of stuff you want to put on a plane, generally, and the warheads would be pretty heavy. Iraq's only big port is in US hands, Kuwait's isn't. Ship captains might be pretty easy to bribe to make a mid-ocean transfer, too. Or not - maybe that's where they got bit...

Posted by mojo 2003-10-1 10:40:45 PM|| 2003-10-1 10:40:45 PM|| Front Page Top

#26 You might also think that the quoted
Arab newspaper would run the story?

They do not.

Posted by True German Ally 2003-10-1 11:50:04 PM|| 2003-10-1 11:50:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#27 http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters10-02-045222.asp?reg=MIDEAST

Posted by Anonymous 2003-10-3 2:49:30 AM|| 2003-10-3 2:49:30 AM|| Front Page Top

02:49 Anonymous
00:32 Old Patriot
23:50 True German Ally
23:40 Old Patriot
23:30 Rex Mundi
23:26 Rex Mundi
23:12 Jabba the Nutt
23:04 logiccop
22:59 Super Hose
22:47 Super Hose
22:40 mojo
22:38 spiffo
22:28 Super Hose
22:22 Super Hose
22:16 Super Hose
22:14 Dishman
21:51 Atomic Conspiracy
21:39 Atomic Conspiracy
21:33 Atomic Conspiracy
21:23 eLarson
21:21 Anonymous
21:20 Anonymous
21:17 Phil_B
21:15 Dar