Iraqi army chief backs WMD claim

Associated Press ^ | 12/6/03 | Associated Press

[Mark Felton]

AN Iraqi officer has identified himself as the source for a British claim about Saddam Hussein's weapons that sparked a controversy marked by the death of a British government arms expert.

The Sunday Telegraph said Lt Col al-Dabbagh identified himself as the source for the British government's assertion that Iraq could have deployed chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of a decision to do so. The paper gave the officer's surname only, citing fears for his safety if he was fully identified.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's office declined comment on the newspaper report, which featured in early editions published late Saturday.

"We're not prepared to comment but we urge all those involved to provide the Iraq Survey Group with whatever information they believe they have," a spokeswoman for Mr Blair's office said late Saturday. The ISG is the coalition body searching for Saddam's alleged chemical or biological weapons.

No one was available at the Foreign Office to comment on aspects of the newspaper report regarding the MI6 foreign intelligence agency, which supplied information on Iraqi weapons before the war.

The 45-minute claim featured in a government dossier published in September 2002. A BBC report later accused the government of "sexing up" the dossier to make a more convincing case for military action. Government weapons adviser David Kelly apparently committed suicide in July after being identified as the source for the BBC report.

Mr Kelly's death prompted a judicial inquiry that scrutinized the workings of Mr Blair's government and its use of intelligence in the build-up to war. The senior judge who headed the inquiry, Lord Hutton, is expected to issue his report early next year.

The Sunday Telegraph said Col al-Dabbagh was the former head of an Iraqi air defence unit in the country's western desert. It reported that he had spied for the Iraqi National Accord, a London-based exile group, and provided reports to British intelligence from early 2002 on Saddam's plans to deploy weapons of mass destruction.

Col Al-Dabbagh said cases containing weapons of mass destruction warheads were delivered to front-line units, including his own, in late 2002, the paper reported. He didn't know whether the warheads were chemical or biological but said they were designed to be launched by hand-held rocket-propelled grenades.

The government's September dossier said "Iraq's military forces are able to use chemical and biological weapons, with command, control and logistical arrangements in place. The Iraqi military are able to deploy these weapons within 45 minutes of a decision to do so."

The head of the MI6 spy agency, Sir Richard Dearlove, told the inquiry into Kelly's death that the 45-minute warning in the dossier came from an "established and reliable source," quoting a senior Iraqi military officer who was in a position to know this information.

The Sunday Telegraph said al-Dabbagh believed he was the source for that claim.

"I am the one responsible for providing this information," he was quoted as saying. "It is 100 per cent accurate.

"Forget 45 minutes, we could have fired these within half an hour," Col al-Dabbagh added. He said the weapons were not used because most of the Iraqi army did not want to fight for Saddam.

The newspaper said Col al-Dabbagh works as an adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council, and added that he has received death threats from Saddam loyalists.

It reported that Iyad Allawi, the head of the Iraqi National Accord and a prominent council member, confirmed he had passed information from Col al-Dabbagh on Saddam's weapons to British and American intelligence officials in the spring and summer of 2002.

The Associated Press

[demsux]

How the heck is the AP going to bury this???

[Moonman62]

They report it once on a Saturday and never mention it again.

[Faraday]

Hmmm. Could this be the big one?

[FairOpinion]

"I am the one responsible for providing this information," he was quoted as saying. "It is 100 per cent accurate.

"Forget 45 minutes, we could have fired these within half an hour," Col al-Dabbagh added. He said the weapons were not used because most of the Iraqi army did not want to fight for Saddam."

===

Can someone read this to Daschle, the rest of the Dems and the Brits who attacked Blair? Will they all apologize to Bush and Blair?

[ChadGore]

Will this be featured in a "very special 48 hours" with Dan Rather ?

[FairOpinion]

The original UK Telegraph article, to which this AP article is referring to, is posted here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1035385/posts

[armymarinemom]

Liberals will try to bury this as fast as Saddam buried his own people.

[Maria S]

"Can someone read this to Daschle, the rest of the Dems and the Brits who attacked Blair?"

To heck with reading this to Daschle et al...I want to hear Russert and Steffy ask HILLARY CLINTON about it on the Sunday talk shows!!! I think she's scheduled to be on all three in the morning (NBC,ABC,CBS). Of course not FOX...whadda you think...she's a dummy?!?

[FairOpinion]

What we need, is to get that Iraqi general to come on FoxNews.

====

"When I asked him whether the information in the document relating to the 45-minute issue was 100 per cent accurate, he responded with characteristic Iraqi enthusiasm: "It is 200 per cent accurate!" he exclaimed. "And forget 45 minutes. We could have fired them within half an hour."

The weapons themselves were finally deployed at his own unit towards the end of last year. "They arrived in boxes marked 'Made in Iraq' and looked like something you fired with a rocket-propelled grenade," Lt Col al-Dabbagh explained.

"They were either chemical or biological weapons; I don't know which, because only the Fedayeen and the Special Republican Guard were allowed to use them. All I know is that we were told that when we used these weapons we had to wear gas masks."

He believes that the only reason these weapons were not used during Operation Iraqi Freedom last spring is that the bulk of the Iraqi army refused to fight for Saddam.

"The West should thank God that the Iraqi army decided not to fight," he said. "If the army had fought for Saddam, and used these weapons, there would have been terrible consequences."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1035385/posts

The UK Telegraph article has much more detail, very interesting.

[Kirkwood]

I never doubted this and all the other evidence that brought us to war. It is just a matter of time for the truth to finally come out. It won't make any difference to the Bush-bashers, though.

[AGreatPer]

Maria S, this is not a scheduled part of the questions, not pre-approved. Forget it.

[Gothmog]

And that's why the Iraqi frontline troops had all those chemical suits, etc. Why is this so hard for lib dems and the media to understand?

[Destro]

So where are the WMD? They still pose a danger then and the war did not remove the threat-just spread it around.

[FairOpinion]

"So where are the WMD?"

===

Syria.

[Destro]

So why is Bush endangering my life by not invading Syria?

[Destro]

So why is Bush endangering my life by not invading Syria?

[FairOpinion]

"So why is Bush endangering my life by not invading Syria?"

==

My guess is that he would have already done it, if the Dems would support the WoT, instead of obstructing it, by their constant attacks on Bush.

[kaiser80]

oops in Syria there are no WMD eighter. Sorry. Maybe it's in Iran. Lets go there!!!

[InterceptPoint]

Hmmm. Could this be the big one?

The leftist press has already established the "fact" that any Iraqi who was cooperating with U.S. or British Intelligence cannot be trusted. Look back at the stories and the comments of the major media talking heads. This one will be tossed on the garbage heap by the media as not even worthy of consideration. DOA in my opinion despite the fact that it is 99% probable that it is the truth.