Posted on 02/02/2006 2:03:54 PM PST by TexCon
(CNSNews.com) -- A former Iraqi general alleges that in June 2002 Saddam Hussein transported weapons of mass destruction out of the country to Syria aboard several refitted commercial jets, under the pretense of conducting a humanitarian mission for flood victims.
That's one of several dramatic claims made in the book by former Iraqi General Georges Sada: "Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied and Survived Saddam Hussein." Since the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Sada has served as the spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and continues to serve as national security advisor. He is the former vice marshal of the Iraqi Air Force. Sada was interviewed at the headquarters of Cybercast News Service on Jan. 30.
Sada contends that Saddam took advantage of a June 4, 2002, irrigation dam collapse in Zeyzoun, Syria, to ship the weapons under cover of an aid project to the flooded region.
"[Saddam] said 'Okay, Iraq is going to do an air bridge to help Syria," Sada recounted. Two commercial jets, a 747 and 727, were converted to cargo jets, in order to carry raw materials and equipment related to WMD projects, Sada said. The passenger seats, galleys, toilets and storage compartments were removed and new flooring was installed, he claimed. Hundreds of tons of chemicals were reportedly included in the cargo shipments.
"They used to do two sorties a day," said Sada. "Fifty-six sorties were done between Baghdad and Damascus."
Sada said he obtained the information from two Iraq Airways captains who were reportedly flying the sorties. "They came immediately and they told me," said Sada.
This is not the first time that the possibility of a transfer of WMDs from Iraq to Syria has been raised. Two years ago, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, (R-Kan), chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence acknowledged that "there is some concern that shipments of WMD went to Syria." No details were forthcoming. The claims have also been made by the U.S.-based Reform Party of Syria.
Sada told Cybercast News Service that he has not been debriefed by U.S. officials regarding his allegations that Saddam smuggled WMDs to Syria. He anticipates, now that his book has been released, that he will be meeting with U.S. officials regarding the information.
U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, plans to meet with Sada to discuss the allegations. "The chairman has read General Sada's book and talked to Retired Col. (David) Eberly," said Jamal Ware, communications director for the committee. "He will meet with General Sada to hear first-hand him laying out the case that this transferal may have happened."
There is "no doubt" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, according to Eberly. He adds that Sada's book is "evidence" of that. Eberly's F-15E jet was shot down on Jan. 19, 1991, the third day of the first Persian Gulf War. He credits Sada with saving his life after the Iraqi general refused an order from one of Saddam's sons to execute Eberly and 23 other pilots who had been taken as prisoners of war.
"Qusay (Hussein) had ordered [Sada] to execute all the pilots," Eberly said. "But Georges wouldn't do it. He argued that the rights accorded to prisoners under the Geneva Convention were inviolable." Eberly said Sada was arrested on Jan. 25, 1991, by the Iraqi Republican Guard and held prisoner. Sada said Saddam eventually changed his mind about the executions, probably because he realized the killings would galvanize world opinion against him.
Hoekstra believes details on pre-war Iraq are "cloudy" and that more should be done to gain a "clearer sense of what was happening in pre-war Iraq," Ware said. "A lot of people reached deterministic conclusions, but there is evidence that still needs to be checked before final conclusions [are made] on WMD and Saddam Hussein's connections to terrorists."
Hoekstra is pushing for the declassification of select documents and debriefing of relevant officials from Saddam Hussein's regime. "All these things are critical elements," said Ware.
David Kay, who as head of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), led the CIA's hunt for WMD in Iraq until December 2003, made headlines in January 2004 when he asserted that pre-war intelligence on Iraq's WMD had been "almost all wrong." Kay added that he himself had previously believed there were WMD in Iraq, and that intelligence from various countries like Germany and France indicated the same thing.
In October 2004 Kay told National Public Radio (NPR) that "There is no evidence of any transfer of weapons material to Syria, and certainly not of weapons, in the lead-up to the Gulf War, although that's an area that will always have some ambiguity because the Syrians, to say the least, have not been cooperative in running down any leads in Syria.
"The bulk of the evidence really points to -- that things did go to Syria, but they weren't weapons of mass destruction or weapons material," Kay added. He said there is "no evidence" that Iraq ever produced any large amounts of chemical nerve agents after 1991. "In fact, all the evidence is just the opposite," he told NPR.
Kay was succeeded by Charles Duelfer, whose 1,500-page October 2004 report on WMD bore many similarities.
"There were no WMD stockpiles; my conclusion, Charles Duelfer's conclusion," Kay said. He and Duelfer asserted that Saddam's regime maintained a vague intention to resume WMD production at some point and for that reason had attempted to hold on to "intellectual capital" related to the programs.
Those conclusions were made in spite of the congressional testimony in 2002 from Iraqi nuclear scientist Khidhir Hamza, who suggested Iraq might have a nuclear weapon by 2005. Hamza defected to the U.S. from Iraq in 1994.
Richard Butler, former head of the United Nations weapons inspection team in Iraq, gave similar testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "What there is now is evidence that Saddam has reinvigorated his nuclear weapons program," Butler said. He also reported that Iraq had an extensive chemical weapons program and had tested various ways to deliver biological weapons.
After hearing the testimony from Hamza and Butler, Sen. Joseph Biden, (D-Del.), head of the Foreign Relations panel, commented that "one thing is clear: These weapons must be dislodged from Saddam, or Saddam must be dislodged from power."
Approximately a month later, Hamza was accused by former employer David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security, of deliberately distorting his credentials and making inaccurate statements on nuclear programs. The accusation was echoed by five other Iraqi nuclear scientists, both pro-war and anti-war.
In a now-famous speech just three months after Hamza's testimony, President Bush asserted that "if the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy or steal an amount of highly enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball, it could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year."
A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted the weekend of Jan 20 indicates that 53 per cent of Americans say Bush and his administration misled the public about Iraq's WMD program as a justification for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Copyright © 1998-2005 CNSNews.com - Cybercast News Service
Lets see the bill of lading. These guys lie for breakfast.
There's the most relevant seven words of this piece...
And this General wrote a book to prove it.
This is old news from last week for the new media. Breaking News only when the lame mainstream media picks it up and publishes it (which they won't because it doesn't fit their agenda of "Bush lied").
You mean there are actually some intel folks who still believe it is wrong to share classified information with anyone (including friends) unless there is a need to know? Amazing!! Kudos to them.
EMPTA is one of the components of the Iraqi Version of VX Nerve gas. The presence of EMPTA was the reason give for the cruise missle attack on the Sudanese pharmaceutical plant during the Clinton administration.
Basically, EMPTA is so serious in itself to be taken as a WMD.
All I can say is that at this time in history if 56 sorties were flown, our intelligence knew about it and recorded it. Undoubtedly, the loading and unloading was done in hangars away from prying satelite eyes but trucks would have been needed to convoy the stuff to the departing site and away from the receiving site. So all has to be pretty well known by the powers that be. Hell, they found missilles in Cuba in 1962 using the technology of the day. If this is true then our guys know at least as much as the guy that wrote the book.
If the MSM didn't report it, it didn't happen.
The people who know probably understand their responsibility not to leak classified information. The ones who know probably wouldn't be any that have a chance of appearing on the NYT's usual suspects list for information. If this develops over time, I'm sure Bush will cite it.
I'm getting the same response from people I know with Intel backgrounds. I agree with you. Something strange is going on behind the scenes. Perhaps the Russians are behind GWB's recent PR problems after all. As usual, the MSM are clueless.
Very interesting.
Bill of lading? Like they'd keep a correct one? Those can faked pretty easily you know.
However those aircraft are probably still around, I know at I've seen post invasion photos of at least one of each type in Iraqi Airlines colors sitting on the ramp at the Baghada airport. I know at least one was destroyed. If the actual aircraft can be located, they can be checked for traces of WMD chemicals, radiation, etc. Heck, just check every Iraqi Boeing you can find. Maybe the first thing to look for would be the structural mods, even though the seats and other interior fittings may have been returned, there should still be evidence of the changes. Then it might be easier to just look for the traces of WMDs on all Iraqi Boeings.
And we have pictures of trucks loading up something at the suspected WMD sites, at the proper time.
It's not so easy to catch a transient activity like this. The birds only come by a couple of times a day, generally speaking, and the whole world knows what those times are. Some boys school in England determines the orbital parameters of everything launched and publishes it. It's also not that hard to determine which launches are of recon satellites.
One you know when the birds are coming over, it's not that hard to hide or disguise your activity for that period. It's only long term, relatively large scale, activities that can be found this way.
You do know that the first hint of the missiles in Cuba was the pattern of construction of SAM sites? Then they started looking for the missile site, and the missiles. But they could never tell what the missiles were armed with ... at least not very directly. Just like the Iraqi WMDs, the information and analysis were not 100% conclusive, and were open to alternate interpretations... although probably not very believable ones, again just like the case of Saddam's programs.
The two standard responses are "I can neither confirm nor deny" and "I could tell you, but then I'd have to shoot you". The latter reserved for folks you know real well, probably those with the proper clearances, but no need to know. The former can also be said lightly, or very seriously, depending on the audience.
I'm sure the flights were noted and records, but remember ""They used to do two sorties a day," said Sada. "Fifty-six sorties were done between Baghdad and Damascus."" That's 56 sorties over a 3+ week period. Mixed in with and disguised as humanitarian aid flights in response to a burst dam in Syria. Just one Baathist bastard helping another.. nothing to see there.
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