UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD before war and after

WorldTribune.com ^ | 6/11/04

[bobbydarookie]

I received a similar response from Mr. Buchanan myself. While this does seem to suggest Saddam was in material breach of 1441 (tell us something we don't know), we have to admit that this is not a major WMD development. This doesn't vindicate that there were stockpiles upon stockpiles of WMD in Iraq. I believe there were, but we'll probably never know what happened to them.

[Recovering_Democrat]

...we'll probably never know what happened to them.

Until they're used. Remember the Amman Jordan bust a few weeks back? Potential of killing 80,000 people at once via chemicals? That kind of stuff isn't likely to be developed by a bunch of cave-dwelling lunatics alone. They needed knowledge and facilities and money and protection. Something an American-hating government like Saddam's would be glad to provide.

I couldn't care less what the U.N. says, does, or thinks. I really don't give a damn. If they want to come along, fine. If they don't, fine. We are fighting for survival here. And I don't want us to be sitting on the sidelines waiting for the French to wake the hell up and in the meantime get hit in some major city by a bio or chemical or nuclear weapon.

I think we're going to get hit again, anyway. I just want us to be fighting while we're doing it. Johnny Ketchup Boy Kerry and his minions want us to treat this like "law enforcement"; wait for a violation, then prosecute. There were several violations, culminating in September 11. And now, we're at war with every Islamic lunatic with designs on WMDs and car bombs and chem bombs and bio bombs and nail bombs. We kill them before they kill us. Real simple.

9/11 had an impact on me I'll never forget. Never.

[bobbydarookie]

I agree. However, I think all articles like this prove is that Bush wasted his time, and endangered the United States, with his utterly ridiculous tap dance with the United Nations Security Council, and UN weapons inspectors. It has become obvious to me that this little charade accomplished nothing outside of providing Saddam with ample time to hide or export his WMD stockpiles. As a result, said WMDs could be anywhere, in anybody's hands. That is a scary proposition. Dubya should have listened to Cheney and launched this invasion before it was expected. Listening to the libs and utilizing the United Nations may have endangered millions of lives, I am afraid.

[Tommyjo]

...Iraq also started to use SA-2 engines for its surface-to-surface Al Samoud missile system which had, by Iraq's own test data, achieved ranges of more than 150km.

Exactly.

So, I take it that you have learned that SA-2 missiles were not forbidden and that your following statement was totally inaccurate?

First of all, SA-2s were forbidden to Iraq because of their surrender in the Gulf War

[VOA]

bump

[Fred Fighter]

This article is a reprint of:

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_1.html

this article is supposed to be based on this report:

http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/new/documents/quarterly_reports/s-2004-435.pdf

Here are some comments about _The World Tribune_:

http://newyorker.com/talk/content/?030908ta_talk_mcgrath


The Headline in the World Tribune Article reads:

UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD before war and after

and the first paragraph says:

The United Nations has determined that Saddam Hussein
shipped weapons of mass destruction components as well
as medium-range ballistic missiles before, during and
after the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003.

But there isn't anything in the article to support the notion that
Saddam Hussein exported anything prior, during, or after the
2003 invasion of Iraq.

Even more damning, there isn't anything to support that paragraph
in the UNMOVIC report cited by the Tribune as the source for that
information.

For instance, according to the very article:

Council members were shown photographs of a ballistic
missile site outside Baghdad in May 2003, and then saw
a satellite image of the same location in February 2004,
in which facilities had disappeared.

By May, 2003 Saddam Hussein had been deposed. Note the missile site
was still intact at that time. It was dismantled some time between
then and February, 2004. Saddam Hussein was not in control of Iraq
during that period of time. The United States and UK were.

Please note also that UNMOVIC must rely on satellite data because
the United States will not allow inspectors back in on the ground.

Here's another gem:

"The removal of these materials from Iraq raises concerns
with regard to proliferation risks," Perricos told the council.
Perricos also reported that inspectors found Iraqi WMD and
missile components shipped abroad that still contained UN
inspection tags.

Note _still contained UN inspection tags_. This refers to material
that had been declared to UNMOVIC and which UNMOVIC had inventoried
and tagged. The proliferation in question has taken place since (and
one might argue BECAUSE) we threw UNOMOVIC out of Iraq and have not
let them back in.

Also, the UNMOVIC report does NOT refer to 'WMD and missile' components.
It does not refer to Weapons of Mass Destruction per se, at all.

Continuing:

UNMOVIC acting executive chairman Demetrius Perricos
told the council on June 9 that "the only controls at
the borders are for the weight of the scrap metal, and
to check whether there are any explosive or radioactive
materials within the scrap," Middle East Newsline reported.

Note that the 'proliferation' in question consists of scrap sales
to junkyards. These materials are being sold for scrap. I hope
you remember that UNMOVIC supervised the dismantling destruction
of the Al Huseins. No one is claiming that any of these material
are usable. But they were inventoried as part of the UNMOVIC
program and the United States is allowing that material to be
exported. Perhaps by Haliburton and Bechtel?

In April, [2004, FF] International Atomic Energy Agency
director-general Mohammed El Baradei said material from
Iraqi nuclear facilities were being smuggled out of the country.

Again, WE were in charge in Iraq in 2004 and El Baradei was referring
to the removal by the United States of material that the IAEA had
secured and inventoried.
There are a few comments in the Tribune article about fermenters.
The word 'fermenter' does not appear in the report the Tribune
cites as its source. There are lots of comments in the UNMOVIC
report about 'dual use items and materials'. These might include
fermenters.

I have no doubt that there were fermenters in Iraq, and that there
still are fermenters in Iraq. *I* have fermenters in my basement.
Zymurgists use fermenters all the time. All fermenters are 'dual
use', in fact 'multi use' as you can ferment lots of different
things in them. A hundred years ago Poncho Villa used fermenters
(canteens) to produce botulinum toxin.

We threw UNMOVIC out of Iraq and have not allowed them back
in. The ability of UNMOVIC to continue its work is being compromised
by the United States. WE are allowing the materials UNMOVIC has
inventoried to be sold for scrap. UNMOVIC is a bit more diplomatic
as to how they are going about saying it but that is the clear
implication of the report.

[neutra]

ping

[The Mayor]

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