Urgent Warning on Iraqi Cache Issued in 1995

New York Sun ^ | 10/27/2004 | Eli Lake

[foofoopowder]

October 27, 2004 Edition > Section: Foreign

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Urgent Warning on Iraqi Cache Issued in 1995 BY ELI LAKE - Staff Reporter of the Sun October 27, 2004

WASHINGTON - Nine years ago, U.N. weapons inspectors urgently called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to demolish powerful plastic explosives in a facility that Iraq's interim government said this month was looted due to poor security.

The chief American weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, told The New York Sun yesterday that in 1995, when he was a member of the U.N. inspections team in Iraq, he urged the United Nations' atomic watchdog to remove tons of explosives that have since been declared missing.

Mr. Duelfer said he was rebuffed at the time by the Vienna-based agency because its officials were not convinced the presence of the HMX, RDX, and PETN explosives was directly related to Saddam Hussein's programs to amass weapons of mass destruction.

Instead of accepting recommendations to destroy the stocks, Mr. Duelfer said, the atomic-energy agency opted to continue to monitor them.

By e-mail, Mr. Duelfer wrote the Sun, "The policy was if acquired for the WMD program and used for it, it should be subject for destruction. The HMX was just that. Nevertheless the IAEA decided to let Iraq keep the stuff, like they needed more explosives."

[foofoopowder]

UN allowed Iraq to keep plastic explosives.

[Question Liberal Authority]

Instead of accepting recommendations to destroy the stocks, Mr. Duelfer said, the atomic-energy agency opted to continue to monitor them.

Well, they sure did a bang-up job.

[dirtboy]

Oooh. And who was president then? Why, Bill Clinton, of course. He could have bombed this facility during Operation Desert Fox.

Game, set and match.

[dirtboy]

Need a link for this.

[nuffsenuff]

Of course this probably had NOTHING to do with the fact that Hussein was bribing UN officials and influential UN countries.... /sarcasm

[anniegetyourgun]

Do you happen to have link for this one?

[BellStar]

And Clinton did nothing??!!!!!!!!!

[foofoopowder]

http://www.nysun.com/article/3826

[PogySailor]

Instead of accepting recommendations to destroy the stocks, Mr. Duelfer said, the atomic-energy agency opted to continue to monitor them.

Of course they did. Job security program for UN bureaucrats.

[unspun]

And we're waiting for Bush to say something....

[EdReform]

BTTT

[mass55th]

This answers a question that has been troubling me...why was Saddam allowed to stockpile such a weapons cache, especially after the first Gulf War.

[texasmountainman]

Fox and talk radio need to get Duelfer on the air to discuss this. What good are U.N. weapons inspectors and the I.A.E.A. if they find prohibited weapons or explosives but then don't follow up to make sure the items were destroyed?

[sarasotarepublican]

And we're waiting for Bush to say something....

Don't hold your breath.

[bjmorris]

>>>And we're waiting for Bush to say something....<<<

Yes we are. And, any time in the next 5 days would probably be the best opportunity to do so. Does he realize there's an election next Tuesday? Just checking.

[gov_bean_ counter]

What good are U.N. weapons inspectors and the I.A.E.A. if they find prohibited weapons or explosives but then don't follow up to make sure the items were destroyed?

Or fail to recognize the danger of "dual use" chemicals.

[SF Republican]

RE WMD if one lb of this took out an airplane with say, 100 people on board, and they have 350 tons or enough to bring down 700,000 planes with 100 people that is 70 million people, is that not massive destruction?

[Mister Baredog]

Something else for the NY Times et al to ignore.

[RedEyeJack]

Exactly...

If IAEA had followed the recommendations of it's more responsible members Bill Clinton and the UN could have made Saddam get rid of the RDX... right?

Just another point to underscore the contribution G W Bush has made to our safety.