Posted on 01/29/2004 6:40:30 AM PST by 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.
Of course they did. I dont deny that his scientists were doing research and produced small amounts. I also dont deny that all it takes for terrorists to cause serious problems is one vial of stuff. But that isnt what we told the world and what our CIA confidentially expected to find. They expected to find large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons as a result of mass production of these items. They werent looking for an isolated envelope containing Ricin or Antrax, both of which can be created by your average scientist in any country of the world. They were also looking for nuclear bomb development that was within a year of working bomb...just waiting for processing of plutonium to make it complete.
If you are an example of the fine work being done in our intelligence agencies, then God help us. With your tunnel vision we are going to miss the implosion of the SOviet Union, mis-target the Chineese embassies in countries like Iraq, have additional 9/11's, and the only time we will find WMD's is when they are distributed throught the US mail. And oh yeah, Bin Laden will die of old age.
And while you're at it, learn a little bit about the Intelligence Community. Eventually you may realize they're not mind readers, even though clueless critics like you insist they be.
What's small? It takes very little physical space to store bio agents that could kill millions. We are no longer in the cold war days. The threats we are now facing can be undertaken in small facilities and the materials can easily be hidden.
Dave, you are not able to provide any convincing evidence that there are no WMD materials in Iraq because it's impossible to prove. My point is the materials could be there.
Im not trying to prove that there arent any. I dont know. You guys are the ones that despite all evidence to date seem to continue to grasp at every conspiracy theory to explain the fact that they havent been found. Coop and Hank Reardon and others are convinced they exist. They fear that if they dont then the Dems will make hay out of the fact "Bush lied" which is not true. If he was feed intel by the likes of Coop, then he couldnt have helped himself.
I'm really surprised this hasn't been discussed in the press. < / sarcasm >
Headline we would like to see the day of the RAT convention: WEAPONS CACHE FOUND: DEMOCRATS DISMAYED Tom Daschle says that he is deeply saddened that President Bush would take such a cheap political shot......
I transcribed it myself from my videotape and then posted all of the John Loftus interview.
As far as the 3 minute James Woolsey interview went, I transcribed and posted what I thought were the most salient points. I will re-wind my tape when I get time and see if he said anything else that you might find important. If I remember correctly, he didn't agree with those who are attempting to force George Tenent to step down, and explained why.
I'll ping you if I get a chance to transcribe and then post more of what he said.
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