IRAQ MINISTER SAYS SADDAM WMD CAREFULLY HIDDEN

Reuters ^ | 1/29/04

[areafiftyone]

(Updates with comments on Saddam's trial, Iraq's unity)

By Anna Mudeva

SOFIA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Iraq's foreign minister said on Thursday Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, which inspectors have failed to find, were carefully hidden but Hoshiyar Zebari said he was confident they could be discovered.

"I have every belief that some of these weapons could be found as we move forward," Zebari, an Iraqi Kurd, told a news conference in Sofia. "They have been hidden in certain areas. The system of hiding was very sophisticated."

The United States and Britain cited Iraq's possession of chemical and biological arms as their main reason for invading the country last March and toppling Saddam. But no such weapons have so far come to light despite intensive searches.

Former chief U.S. weapons hunter David Kay said on Wednesday "we were almost all wrong" about the issue and it was "highly unlikely that there were large stockpiles of deployed militarised chemical and biological weapons" in Iraq.

But Zebari, on a visit to Bulgaria, said: "We as Iraqis have seen Saddam Hussein develop, manufacture and use these weapons of mass destruction against us. He hasn't denied that."

Zebari was apparently referring to the use of chemical weapons by Saddam's forces against Iraqi Kurdish villages in the late 1980s.

He reiterated the position of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council that Saddam, accused of sending thousands of Iraqis to mass graves, should be tried by an Iraqi court.

The former Iraqi president, who was given prisoner of war status, was captured in mid-December near his home town of Tikrit, having evaded U.S. forces since the American military launched its war in Iraq with a March 20 attack targeting him.

Zebari said Saddam's trial should be fair and transparent because it would be a test for Iraq's new rulers to prove their adherence to the supremacy of law.

TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

Asked to comment on Turkey's fears Iraqi Kurds might seek a breakaway state, Zebari said there were no plans to divide Iraq.

"We have proved over the last nine months that all the Iraqis from the North to the South are committed to the national unity...No group, no party has any plans to undermine Iraq's unity or territorial integrity," he said.

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he was also committed to a "territorially intact" Iraq.

Turkish officials have been concerned Iraqi Kurds might press for an independent state, which could boost independence claims by Turkey's own restive Kurdish minority.

The Kurds, who fought with the United States to topple Saddam, are one of Iraq's best organised ethnic groups after enjoying U.S-protected autonomy since the 1991 Gulf War. They have presented a plan to the Iraqi Governing Council that grants significant autonomy to the Kurdish region.

Zebari did not rule out the federalisation of Iraq as long as it did not violate territorial unity and added only the Iraqi people could choose the country's future political system.

[justshutupandtakeit]

It is refreshing to read the posts of one who knows what the hell he is talking about rather than the professional meatheads, ideological dumbells and determined know-nothings who infest this site in such great numbers.

Thanks for your thoughts and information.

[OrioleFan]

CIA field agent

Isn't this something that Jimmah Carter, Bill Clintoon, and John "Effing" Kerry were working to make sure we didn't have any.

[sean327]

The shells with " the tops off" are not a smoking gun. These were most likley shells that had not been fused yet. You must fuse an artillery shell before firing, or all you are doing is shooting a big bullet down range. It will not explode if it's not fused.

[GigaDittos]

So which is worse, making US think he has them or making the Kurds think he doesn't?

[Quix]

I think he was soooooooooooooooo arrogant that it blinded him to reality.

I believe he thought he could slip and slide and hide around and get back in control and then retrieve his weapons.

I believe some were put on those ships roaming the seas, some in Syria, some in even Iran and some still there still hidden.

Some may have even gone back to Russia.

I even believe we know where some are such as in Syria.

[Tricorn]

"He sends them to another country and stays behind ? No, really, I can't buy that. Saddam is certainly no hero, nor does he has such love for Syria"

But again returning to the Gulf War I scenario. Saddam sent his air force to hide in IRAN, his sworn enemy, for cryin out loud. (Iran kept the planes, by the way, to the best of my recollection.) Saddam stayed behind, not out of heroism, but because he (correctly) calculated that his regime would survive the war to fight again another day. This is what he was counting on this time too. Why wouldn't he? Same players again on both sides: Powell, Cheney, Bush (but a less kind and gentle one, to be sure).

This is Saddam's MO, plain and simple. Why assume he wouldn't repeat the same successful strategy?

[Solson]

I'm being specific. There is plenty of evidence to support the fact there were stockpiles of WMD at one time. There is little evidence to support those stockpiles existed within the last year. Our intelligence led us to believe those stockpiles still existed.

As the corollary, if there was strong evidence to indicate stockpiles existed within the last year, then there was a huge intelligence failure in not being able to determine their movement or destruction during the UN/French/German delay.

[gatex]

"A 15 year old chemical weapon might not even give you a cold. "

You sorta slipped this propaganda in---

Show the chemistry --and then explain the very expensive and dangerous procedures the U.S. uses to dispose of old weapons that have deteriorating containers.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Speed of advance was one of the keys to our success. Since the columns were kept on the move there was no real chance to use either CBW or even conventional weaponry with much success.

Those boys were on the move and part of the reason was so they could not be attacked as they could have been if seizing territory and holding it had been the strategy. A brilliant plan right out of Sun-Tse was implemented by Gen. Franks and Rummie.

[Coop]

It is refreshing to read the posts of one who knows what the hell he is talking about rather than the professional meatheads, ideological dumbells and determined know-nothings who infest this site in such great numbers. Thanks for your thoughts and information.

Do you owe me money or something? :-P

Thanks for the kind words. Hey, although I'm far from an expert on WMD or war, I'm an old intel guy. A lot of people understandably do not get what is involved in gathering/analyzing intel. Some are willing to recognize/accept the inherent challenges, others aren't. (Politicians and some general/flag officers fall into the latter category.)

[Solson]

Nobody is dissatisfied with the intel gained from Iraqi Freedom. Most are dissatisfied with the intel prior to troops being on the ground in Iraq. And the dissatisfaction is deserved.

[Quix]

Part of me wouldn't doubt that.

[cyncooper]

Maybe Saddam will get tired of hearing how he didn't have WMDs after all and will blurt out to his captors where they are.

I hope they're telling him he's being humiliated as having been supposedly fooled by scientists taking his money to make stockpiles, then (the story goes) did not make the product.

[wizardoz]

So which is worse, making US think he has them or making the Kurds think he doesn't?

Well, looks like for him, it was worse making the US think he had them. Of course, the way he made us think he had them was by... having them. So there's that. Oh well. He lost.

[justshutupandtakeit]

People seem to quickly forget that these loons BURIED FIGHTER PLANES. Yet, he could not or would not bury much smaller items?

[Constantine XIII]

The skinny of it is this: Bush I, Clintonoid, and Bush II all made it very clear that a WMD attack on anybody meant that Iraq becomes a glass parking lot. No ifs, ands, or buts.

It apparently worked. :p

[Coop]

There is plenty of evidence to support the fact there were stockpiles of WMD at one time. There is little evidence to support those stockpiles existed within the last year.

The snippets of supporting intel I highlighted for you (and keep in mind there's much more) all go back no farther than 18 months.

during the inspections that began in late 2002.

I will take Dr. Kay's word over yours, no offense.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Yeah, but the Soviet Union was falling to pieces before our eyes and the CIA/intel communitry were the very last to admit it.

I break out the tinfoil hat every time I recall that fact.

IMHO It makes sense though, better to be protective/pessimistic side when dealing with the security of a nation. I'd think I'd rather be prepared for the worst, even with little intel; then get caught with my (blank) in my hand. Government is great for that.

This may be the same kind of scenario re: Iraqi WMD's.

[Coop]

Speed of advance was one of the keys to our success. Since the columns were kept on the move there was no real chance to use either CBW or even conventional weaponry with much success.

Excellent point.

[Coop]

Most are dissatisfied with the intel prior to troops being on the ground in Iraq. And the dissatisfaction is deserved.

I am talking about the intel going into Iraq, not after the fact. And I'm sorry, but I feel I've made a far stronger case than you that this dissatisfaction is most assuredly not deserved.