UPDATED: Iraqi paper reports discovery of nuclear warheads

Al Sabah (Iraqi paper) / Wash Times ^ | 21 July, 2004 | Al Sabah

[propertius]

Update from Wash Times:

A U.S. military spokesman in Tikrit told United Press International that the report was untrue. "Nothing's been found. The report is not factual," said Master Sgt. Robert Cowens, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division...

A spokesman with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office told UPI that the report concerning the alleged missiles and warheads emerged "while gathering information for Saddam Hussein's tribunal" during the interrogation of a captured former official of Saddam's regime.

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Al Sabah, the Iraqi newspaper funded by the Coalition Provisional Authority, reports on its front page this morning that a former senior Ba'ath party activist has led coalition troops to three nuclear warheads hidden in a bunker.

Will post translation when we have it.

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To: All

Here is story in full:

Headline: Khidhur (or Khidhir) al-Douri, back from the dead, reveals three nuclear missiles

Sources in the Interior ministry and the National Security Advisor's Office refused to comment on news reports that three missiles with nuclear warheads had been seized during the arrest of Khidhur al-Douri, the former Ba'ath party member.

Iraqi political sources, who requested anonimity, inisisted that Iraqi security authorities arrested al-Douri and seized the missiles.

The same sources told al-Sabah that al-Douri, who held meany Ba'ath party positions during the former regime, was falsely pronounced dead on its demise. Forged death certificates had been circulated.

He was arrested in an area between Oja and al-Dour, in Salahidine province.

The same sources said three missiles were found with nuclear heads attached in a tunnel six metres underground.

A cement layer six metres thick had been built over the tunnel to hide it from scientific ray detection that could detect the radiation emitted by the nuclear heads.

The tunnel leading to the three missiles is connected to a small hole that opens out on the main road between Ouja and Dour.

The sources said al-Douri was arrested after sending an email, specifying the location and a meeting place in Tikrit.

Authorities analysed the message. Iraqi forces then moved into the area, laying a trap that snared al-Douri and his son.

Al-Douri then revealed the location of the missiles. Various light weapons and money was also seized during the operation.

ENDS

171 posted on 07/21/2004 12:00:20 AM PDT by propertius
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[Indie]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is true. After all, a MIG in pristine condition was found buried under the desert sand after the war. I am praying this is true and I am praying for our President. I am also praying the DemoRats lose their credibility forever, once and for all, and are exposed for the America-trashing POS they are.

[My2Cents]

Democrats' denial: It all depends on the definition of "nuclear."

[My2Cents]

I can hear the Left now:

"Of no significance. These warheads date back to 1991."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Now how did that happen????


Its just amazing the stuff you see here>

[My2Cents]

Time for Fox News to breathlessly report that this may be "the smoking gun"...

That would be Rita Cosby, with the preface, "My sources tell me..."

[Indie]

If this were true, then we are well beyond the need for preemption.

Risk: I hope it to be true rhetorically just to show the rats...but I see your point. However, true or not, I honestly believe the need for preemption has passed anyway. I have no doubt the islamonazis have NBC weapons and will use them at the time and places of their choosing. Hopefully, interdiction will catch them first.

Regards,
~Indie

[My2Cents]

This would be BS, because their own weapons inspectors found huge quantities of chemical and bio- material prior to their being thrown out of the country in 1998. The most recent round of inspections in 2002-03 attempted to find out what had happened to those "stockpiles" of weapons material, and they failed to confirm that they'd been destroyed.

[COEXERJ145]

I can hear the Left now:

"Of no significance. These warheads date back to 1991."

Or "Well, it was only three warheads. That isn't enough WMD's to justify Bush's war (for oil)."

[My2Cents]

You're forgetting the fact that they're in a different time zone.

Yeah, the 5th Century.

[My2Cents]

I'm intrigued by the email he sent leading to his capture...who was he communicating with.

It could have been anyone...Sandy Berger, Jami Gorelick, Joe Wilson, John Kerry...maybe even Bill Clinton himself!

[My2Cents]

The actual quote was probably, "The Reuters News Service?...It's stupid!"

[kinsman redeemer]

...NBC weapons...

LOL

[AmericanInTokyo]

12:25 p.m. Eastern (Wednesday)

Very interesting...

I have just found on the web the As-Sabah Arabic-language Iraqi newspaper where this story originated yesterday.

I looked at the English and Arabic versions.

The report is that the nukes were found in Tikrit between Oja and Al-Dor, in Tikrit.

What makes Al-Dor (district) interesting is:

It was the site for IAEA 'inspection' in March 2003

and

It was the site of Saddam Hussein's hole where he was captured.

"An IAEA team inspected a military factory being built by the SAAD Company south of Baghdad. The team also visited high explosives-related sites in the same area. A second IAEA team inspected the Sahal Al Din Company that produces military electronic equipment in the Al-Dor District, 140km northwest of Baghdad. A third IAEA team performed a radiation survey 30km northwest of Baghdad. "

and (snip)

"US forces captured ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Saturday at a remote farmhouse near the hamlet of Al-Dor in the Tikrit area, north of the capital. Hussein was found in a specially prepared “spider” hole, complete with exhaust fan, sunk in the courtyard of a mudbrick building, ending an eight-month manhunt. The US military operation, code named “Red Dawn,” began on Saturday evening. Some 600 troops searched two target areas for more than ten hours before reaching their quarry, who surrendered without a shot. The capture of Saddam Hussein, who emerged heavily bearded and with long hair is seen as a great victory for the US. “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him,” US administrator L. Paul Bremer told a news conference. “The tyrant is a prisoner.” Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, the head of US-led forces in Iraq, said that the former President “has been cooperative and is talkative.” He described Saddam as “a tired man, a man resigned to his fate.” "

Interesting coincidences.... (now granted, devil's advocates, the district may be a relatively wide area) nevertheless, all three events (UNMOVIC hopeless nuke search in March 2003; Saddam rathole capture;, three found Iraqi nukes) all in the same specific area, in a country the size of California. Hmmm.

[mariejlt]

The timing is perfect... Democrats hear the information loud and clear by next week ... All week long no one talks of anything except the bombs...

[js1138]

Titrik is Saddam's home town, the location of his most loyal followers, the people most motivated to lead inspectors astray.

Some thoughts: the 18 feet of concrete may be sufficient to shield radiation from ordinary inspection.

Then again, the nuclear material might be missing, or might be stored at a different location

Then again, the nuclear material may not exist, and is something that would have been obtained or manufactured after the U.N. inspections ended.

[StriperSniper]

Prototypes, perhaps?

That has been my thought from the begining. That doesn't mean they couldn't work. I'm sure that if Saddam had the fuel and believed we were coming, he would have tried to test them at least.

[jq2]

IRAQI INTERIOR MINISTRY SAYS NUCLEAR MISSILE REPORT "DUMB"

[jq2]

AND "STUPID"

[Jeff Chandler]

***H'lahrri*** LOL! Can I steal it?

Sure, enjoy!

[najida]

OK,
So we have been had by the Iraqi version of the Globe?