Iraq Official: Saddam Moved WMD to Syria

www.newsmax.com ^

[French_for_Bush]

Iraq Official: Saddam Moved WMD to Syria

The former number two official in Saddam Hussein's Iraqi air force claims the former Iraqi dictator moved weapons of mass destruction from Iraq to Syria in the months preceding the current Iraq war.

Georges Sada revealed the charges in an interview Wednesday with the New York Sun. They are detailed in his new book, "Saddam’s Secrets.”

"Saddam realized, this time, the Americans are coming," Sada told the Sun. "They handed over the weapons of mass destruction to the Syrians.”

The former Iraqi general said Special Republican Guard brigades loaded WMDs onto two converted Iraqi Airways planes.

He said he was told of the operation by two pilots that helped transport the materials. Sada says 56 flights were made, and were accompanied by a ground convoy of trucks carrying similar materials.

The Sun reports that the flights attracted scant international attention because they occurred at the same time that Iraq was sending relief to Syria for a dam collapse.

Sada’s claims echoed those made by Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s top general in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Yaalon told the Sun in December that Saddam had "transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria.”

According to the Middle East Quarterly, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon issued a similar warning in a Dec. 23, 2002 television appearance on Israel’s Channel 2.

"Chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria,” Sharon said.

Together, their claims challenge the conventional wisdom in the United States and Europe that pre-war intelligence estimates were incorrect in suggesting the mass-murdering Iraqi dictator either possessed or was close to possessing WMDs.

Even President Bush has conceded the point, telling Americans in a televised address in December, "It is true that many nations believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. But much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong.”

Recent reports by Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard have similarly challenged the conventional wisdom on Saddam’s relationships with al-Qaida.

Hayes is calling for the release of approximately 2 million unclassified documents recovered in Iraq from the Hussein regime. He claims the documents could prove Saddam maintained significant contacts with al-Qaida.

Sada’s and Yaalon’s claims will be even more difficult, if not impossible, to prove, but several U.S. Senators will try to get to the bottom of the claims. Sada is scheduled to meet with Senators Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., next week. Both are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

[crowman]

If you haven't read about the Russian Spetsnaz Special Forces then look them up as it is said that they were in on the WMD transfer to the Bekka Valley in Syria just before the take out of Saddam....

[TPartyType]

So what were these WMD's, chemical? Nuclear, assembled nuclear bombs? Enriched Uranium?

Sarin gas and some other kind of nerve agent (I don't recall the name mentioned by Sada--I heard him on FoxNewsTalk on XM with Jon Gibson) but he said it's something that attacks the central nervous system and "kills you instantly if you breathe it in." It was weaponized.

[crowman]

I'm not sure the Russians gave this stuff to the Syrians during the transfer to Bekka...maybe they still control it or have neutralized the weapons in some deal with us to prevent its use against the American military....

[TPartyType]

Sada also said that Iraq had a large nuclear program until 1981 when Israel knocked it out. They were in the process of transferring a down payment (of $5 mil) to China to revive their nuclear program in August 8, 1990 or 91 (I forget which) when the Gulf War began and America successfully blocked the transfer of funds 3 times!! (They kept trying to complete the transaction, but it wouldn't work because we blocked it!)

Sada said that the US blocked that transaction but did not realize what it was for. . . . interesting!

[PISANO]

No! No!........ahhh really?.....NAH!!..........BUSH LIED, PERIOD!!!

< /sarcasm >

[TPartyType]

I checked an "Operation Desert Storm" timeline. It was August 8, 1990. . . . and Sada said, specifically, it was August 8th that the funds transfer was blocked (so he's giving specific names, dates, etc. Should be able to confirm his stories before too long, I'd think.) Very exciting.

[TPartyType]

Ping! to make sure you are aware of this latest confirmation that there were WMDs in Iraq.

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

"........How would the Democrats argue AGAINST holding lengthy public hearings on this subject, without looking like they were playing politics with our security?"

---

......and when, exactly, have the Dims NOT played politics with our security?

[SunkenCiv]

"Sun is hot, water is wet" ping.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[dervish]

So was the often maligned DEBKA.

[Doe Eyes]

And just how many of the major news networks will carry this news? Hmmmm..........

Makes you wish President Bush had brought it up in the Press Conference today.

[Anti-Bubba182]

This was also on Brit Hume.

[SvdByFaith]

(a little off topic?)I would like to recommend a GREAT book for anyone interested in political thrillers. The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg popped into my mind after following this thread. (Russian/Iranian conspiracy and nuclear weapons) I may have to go back and read it again because so much of this reminds me of what's written in the book. It's one of those books that you can't put down from beginning to end.

[plenipotentiary]

"But much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong (could be wrong but very doubtful)."

Maybe that's why George Tenet has been honoured, and not hung drawn and quartered.

Maybe Bush new all along (because Tenet had shown him, "It's a slam dunk"),that the WMD existed and had been moved.

Maybe it's wait to use the info till we really need it, and the Democrats have hoist themselves by their own petard.

[Majie Purple]

I knew the truth would come to light sooner or later...It always does. Way to wait it out President Bush...I & Others knew and waited along with You...I'm sssoooo glad You are in office!For sssoooo many reasons! Sleep well and soundly...O how I wish I could speak with You in person Mr. President!

[Sparhawk]

My memory is not what it used to be, So feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken, but I seem to recall the UN running interference for Sadam for about 6 months before we went in to Iraq.

[M. Espinola]

Saddam Hussein himself should be made to talk on Iraqi TV concerning his transfers of Iraq's WMD via 18 wheel trucks, a night, to Syria & Lebanon.

Leftist members of Congress know damn well where Saddam's WMD wound up yet continue beating this dead horse issue for political mileage against the White House, in effect assisting the enemy, but what else is new?

Note: Saddam's WMD were strategically 'withdrawn" from Lebanon thinking some of these weapons of mass murder will be used against Israel, which will severely backfire on Damascus in the next war.

When Syrian troops were returned to Syria, Damascus left numerous Syrian secret police agents who continue operating with the Iranian & Syrian backed Hizballah Islamic death cultists.

The recovery of the advanced Russian MiG fighter is considered to be an intelligence coup by the U.S. Air Force.. The Foxbat may also be equipped with advanced Russian- and French-made electronics that were sold to Iraq during the 1990s in violation of a U.N. ban on arms sales to Baghdad.

The buried Russian aircraft at Al Taqqadum were covered in camouflage netting, sealed and, in many cases, had their wings removed before being buried more than 10 feet beneath the Iraqi desert.

The discovery of the buried Iraqi jet fighters illustrates the problem faced by U.S. inspection teams searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is larger in size than California, and the massive deserts south and west of Baghdad were used by Saddam Hussein to hide weapons during the first Gulf war.

U.S. Air Force recovery teams had to use large earth-moving equipment to uncover the MiG, which is over 70 feet long and weighs nearly 25 tons.

The (Soviet) Russian built Foxbat is known to be one of Iraq's top jet fighters. The advanced electronic reconnaissance version found by the U.S. Air Force is currently in service with the Russian air force.

The MiG is capable of flying at speeds of over 2,000 miles an hour, or three times the speed of sound, and at altitudes of over 75,000 feet.

Any further questions on why Putin was so vehemently opposed to American led Coalition forces overthrowing Saddam's dictatorship?

[gotribe]

New book alert.

[TheRobb7]

That's my thinking, too.

If this turns out ot be true, with indisputable evidnece, Republicans will control Cogress and the White House for a while to come.(barring a shoot-myself-in-the-foot incident)