U.S.: Mobile labs found in Iraq

CNN ^

[epluribus_2]

KARBALA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troops have found 11 mobile laboratories buried south of Baghdad that are capable of biological and chemical uses, a U.S. general said Monday.

There were no chemical or biological weapons with the containerized labs, which measure 20 feet square. But soldiers recovered "about 1,000 pounds" of documents from inside the labs, and the United States will examine those papers further, said Brig. Gen. Benjamin Freakly of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.

"Initial reports indicate that this is clearly a case of denial and deception on the part of the Iraqi government," Freakly told CNN's Ryan Chilcote. "These chemical labs are present, and now we just have to determine what in fact they were really being used for."

[IMRight]

Just more evidence that "the inspectors needed more time to do their work".


sigh.....

[GovernmentShrinker]

Perhaps ladtx was just jumping to the conclusion that the labs weren't flat :)

[Lizavetta]

Ignorance is BLIX.

[snooker]

I am going to wait for Al Jeezera confirmation before I take this as fact.

[epluribus_2]

I was thinking Agence France Presse!

[CyberAnt]

I also read a story by Richard Pearle in which he said that he wondered if during the lead-up to the war and the beginning of inspections - many of these things were hidden. And ... because Saddam really didn't believe we would attack him, and at such a lightening fast pace, the regime was slow to dig the stuff up. He believed this was the reason none of the chem/bio stuff was used - they just didn't have time to set it back up.

These buried trucks seem to enforce that opinion.

[xm177e2]

The source is the Associated Press, not CNN. CNN is merely passing along an AP wire report (and there's nothing weird about that).

[xm177e2]

Oops, I don't know why I thought that. I misread it, the source is CNN. But the source for them is a US Army General, who is named (not just an anonymous source)

[CA Conservative]

20 feet square is 20 x 20 x 20.

Actually, what you described is a cube, not a square, which would be 8000 cu. ft. The problem with a container 20 ft. tall is that is would not pass under any standard overpasses, so it is unlikely that these are 20x20x20.

"20 feet square" is a very imprecise way to describe this, but according to the report on TV, the containers were 20' x 20' (WxL), or about 400 sq. ft.

[jlogajan]

But 20 feet square doesn't sound right either since moving an object 20' X 20' is not nearly as easy as moving a 10' X 40' object.

That might well be, but I saw the military guy telling the CNN correspondent on video that they measured "20 feet by roughly 20 feet." That's what he (the military guy) said. Fog of war, probably.

[Sabertooth]

Here's the article in its entirety...

U.S.: Mobile labs found in Iraq

Monday, April 14, 2003 Posted: 5:40 PM EDT (2140 GMT)

KARBALA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troops have found 11 mobile laboratories buried south of Baghdad that are capable of biological and chemical uses, a U.S. general said Monday.

There were no chemical or biological weapons with the containerized labs, which measure 20 feet square. But soldiers recovered "about 1,000 pounds" of documents from inside the labs, and the United States will examine those papers further, said Brig. Gen. Benjamin Freakley of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.

"Initial reports indicate that this is clearly a case of denial and deception on the part of the Iraqi government," Freakley told CNN's Ryan Chilcote. "These chemical labs are present, and now we just have to determine what in fact they were really being used for."

Troops found the mobile laboratories near a weapons plant outside Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad. Though buried, they appeared to contain about $1 million worth of equipment and were "clearly marked so they could be found again," Freakley said.

During the buildup to the war in Iraq, the United States repeatedly accused Iraq of using mobile laboratories to produce banned weapons. A U.S.-led force invaded Iraq March 20 after accusing Iraq of violating U.N. resolutions requiring it to give up chemical and biological weapons, long-range missiles and efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

In February, U.N. weapons inspectors "found nothing untoward" at an ammunition filling plant close to where the troops have found the mobile labs, a U.N. inspection team spokesman said Monday.

Inspectors visited the site -- referred to as the Karbala Ammunition Filling Plant -- on February 23.

"There was no hint by anybody, no special tip that led us there," one U.N. official said. No banned weapons or related materials were found there.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in February told the United Nations Security Council that U.S. intelligence indicated Iraq had production facilities for biological weapons "on wheels and on rails," and on at least 18 flatbed trucks.

He insisted the labs existed and called them "most worrisome."

"The trucks and train cars are easily moved and are designed to evade detection by inspectors," Powell said. "In a matter of months, they can produce a quantity of biological poison equal to the entire amount that Iraq claimed to have produced in the years prior to the Gulf War."

Powell said the evidence included firsthand accounts from four sources -- among them, an Iraqi chemical engineer who supervised one of the facilities and an Iraqi civil engineer "in a position to know the details of the program."

U.N. weapons inspection chief Hans Blix said his inspectors never found evidence of such labs.

On March 7, Blix told the U.N. Security Council, "Several inspections have taken place at declared and undeclared sites in relation to mobile production facilities. Food-testing mobile laboratories and mobile workshops have been seen, as well as large containers with seed-processing equipment. No evidence of proscribed activities have so far been found."

Iraqi officials repeatedly denied having weapons of mass destruction and have not used them against U.S. or British troops.

Last week, troops from the 101st Airborne found a stash of chemicals, which was investigated as possible nerve agents, but the material turned out to be pesticides, Freakly said. The United States will further examine the latest find, he said.
LINK

[The Raven]

So where's the "stuff?" Or need I ask? Syria?

[Paleo Conservative]

20 feet square is different from 20 sq ft.

20 feet square is 20 x 20 x 20.

Try again.

20 feet square is 20ft x 20ft = 400ft^2
20 feet cubed is 20ft x 20ft x 20ft = 8,000ft^3

[Ethyl]

I'm getting a gnawing feeling about my last comment. If Iraq really destroy it's old stocks (maybe they were too old) but kept all the production capabilities as dual use items, then they could have it both ways - the axis of weasels will charge that Iraq was truthful (WE HAVE NO WMD!) and that quibbling about the trucks/labs/pesticide mixers is US/UK covering their Blixes. The leftwards leaning will buy it all, Bush will still his same supporters and the world and the US would end up politically where we started. Oh yeah, and "US allowed Saddam to Escape" echoing "US missed OBL" repeated until it is an urban legend that Saddam is alive they way Osama lives in the hearts of those opposed to Bush. Not to mention Osamaphonic tapes now from Saddam exhorting Arab street to continue war with US/UK/Joos.


Ethyl here, what happened to that nuclear weapons site that was found last week where the gieger counter went off the charts? Also the 20 missiles tipped with possible WMD? I've been watching FOX but haven't seen any thing lately, I think the missiles were sent to Fort Dietrek (SP) MD.

[Ethyl]

What whould Baghdad Bob have to say??

[Husker8877]

"...By the way, I think by now someone knows the general nature of the documents recovered..

Baby milk factory documents? Everyone knows they don't keep above ground.

[Smile-n-Win]

Was this the Iraqi madman's strategery? Destroy all weapons but keep the means to develop them hidden well to quickly rearm as soon as the UN inspectors "completed their work" and humiliated the US and UK? Then place calls to Al-Qaeda, et al to come get the goodies for a practically untraceable connection to the terror war on the West?

You may be on to something here.

[oyez]

Another WMD story that will be squashed or FUBAR by tomorrow.

[oyez]

Another WMD story that will be squashed or FUBAR by tomorrow.