Posted on 01/27/2005 8:09:14 PM PST by SmithL
OSLO, Norway -- A scientist considered the father of Iraq's nuclear program said Thursday that his nation would have developed atomic weapons in the early 1990s had Saddam Hussein not ordered the invasion of Kuwait.
The invasion sparked the U.S.-led Operation Desert Storm in 1991, which drove Iraq out of Kuwait and marked the end of Baghdad's nuclear and biological weapons program, said Jafar Dhia Jafar, the scientific head of Iraq's nuclear weapons program.
"By the end of 1990, about 8,000 people were involved directly or indirectly in the nuclear program," said Jafar, presenting his new Norwegian-language book, "Oppdraget", which means The Assignment, describing the program.
"We were three years away, give or take a year," said Jafar, who fled Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
In the book, Jafar describes being picked up in 1981 after 18 months in jail and brought to see Saddam, who, standing behind a desk in military uniform, instructed him to build an atomic bomb.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Thanks for the ping!
Saddam had to be the craziest rat bastard on the planet. If he didn't have em all he had to do was let the UN inspect, and he would still be prancing around in his uniforms instead of wearing an orange jump suit. He went to insane lengths to try and convince us he had the damn things.
Since the Iraqi scientist Jafar appears every so often in the press, you might want to note this Libyan connection.
Interesting how all these outspoken and higher ranking former Iraqi scientists seem to be the ones that managed to get out of Iraq prior to the war- and into Europe- before they could be captured by the US.
Well, thank you Piasa. Duly noted.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/01/27/international2243EST0774.DTL
"1991 Gulf War stopped Baghdad's atomic and biological weapons, top Iraqi scientist says"
DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, January 27, 2005
(01-27) 19:43 PST OSLO, Norway (AP) --
ARTICLE SNIPPET: ""We were three years away, give or take a year," said Jafar, who fled Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
In the book, Jafar describes being picked up in 1981 after 18 months in jail and brought to see Saddam, who, standing behind a desk in military uniform, instructed him to build an atomic bomb.
"From today, that is our goal," Jafar recalled Hussein saying."
Wrong, the issue was whether he would give access for verification as agreed to in his surrender terms, and required by UN Resolutions. Whether he HAD them or not is irrelevant.
Lol, ya reckon the libya connection there had anything to do with Libya suddenly getting religion recently?
That is indeed interesting. Do you have an "evacuation timeline" for scientists, WMD-related documents, and WMD components? I'd like to see that laid out as to who/what departed Iraq, when, and where they ended up.
Bugs Bunny [munching thoughtfully on carrot]:
Ehhh. . .Could be!
:-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.