Suspected Weapons Lab Is Found in Northern Iraq

New York Times ^ | May 9 | SABRINA TAVERNISE

[inconspicuous]

MOSUL, Iraq, May 9 — An American military unit found an abandoned trailer outside a missile testing site in northern Iraq today that they suspect was a mobile biological weapons laboratory. It was the second such find in recent weeks, and could potentially bolster the United States' claim that Saddam Hussein's government was producing biological and chemical weapons.

Not long after the division arrived in Mosul in April, Major Handelman said, an engineer from the plant handed over what the major called "a treasure map" of clues to what was buried inside the complex. Mounds of earth, some that looked fresh, were strewn throughout the area. (snip) According to the map, a chemical weapons cache was buried near building 900. But the damage by American bombs was so extensive that it was impossible to discern any building numbers, the major said.

[Lunatic Fringe]

According to the map, a chemical weapons cache was buried near building 900. But the damage by American bombs was so extensive that it was impossible to discern any building numbers

There were weapons, we just destroyed them? I suspect this may soon become the story we will fall back on *if* no WMDs are found. I still believe we will, though....

[RightWhale]

Is this the trailer they are going over with q-tips because the trailer has been scrubbed clean enough that you could serve dinner on the floor?

[cookcounty]

"Is this the trailer they are going over with q-tips because the trailer has been scrubbed clean enough that you could serve dinner on the floor?

No, the story says it's the "second such lab" found in the last week.

[John Beresford Tipton]

Here it is.

[yeetch!]

Could be big. The idea that it (the trailer) may be parked over underground WMD storage is new

[Cachelot]

Is this the trailer they are going over with q-tips because the trailer has been scrubbed clean enough that you could serve dinner on the floor?

No, this is a second one. The first one is being taken apart so that anything not scrubbed can be examined (inside cracks, inside of the ventilation system, all seals, that kind of thing).

[RightWhale]

the story says it's the "second such lab" found in the last week.

The story is dated yesterday, and it doesn't say that.

[AgThorn]

Ashley Gilbertson/Aurora, for The New York Times

Amid Kurdish sheep and goats, a 101st Airborne Division soldier guards a trailer that may have been a mobile biological weapons laboratory.

[sharktrager]

It was the second such find in recent weeks, and could potentially bolster the United States' claim that Saddam Hussein's government was producing biological and chemical weapons

Well...it does say second in recent weeks.

[Spunky]

"The story is dated yesterday, and it doesn't say that."Yesterday was May 9th.

Here is an article dated May 7th, so this has to be the second one found.

WorldNetDaily: Chem-weapons lab believed discoveredThis is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32459 Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Chen-weapons lab believed discovered

[FairOpinion]

It appears that this is a 2nd trailer.

[FairOpinion]

The story DOES say that:

MOSUL, Iraq, May 9 — An American military unit found an abandoned trailer outside a missile testing site in northern Iraq today that they suspect was a mobile biological weapons laboratory. It was the second such find in recent weeks, and could potentially bolster the United States' claim that Saddam Hussein's government was producing biological and chemical weapons.

[PaulCarter]

It was the second such find in recent weeks, and could potentially bolster the United States' claim that Saddam Hussein's government was producing biological and chemical weapons.

Potentially bolster? Potentially bolster?!? Ha! Of course, this is the NYT we're talking about.

[FairOpinion]

Here is an article about the first one (go to link for pictures of the lab):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3008983.stm

Iraq lorry 'probably weapons lab'


US forces have found no banned weapons so far
A lorry found in northern Iraq was probably used as a mobile factory to produce biological weapons, the Pentagon has said.

The announcement comes after the US said on Tuesday it was conducting tests on the lorry.

Pentagon intelligence chief Steve Cambone said the lorry - which matches the description of a mobile biological weapons lab given by various sources including a defector before the war - was found and seized by US forces at the end of April near the northern town of Mosul.

"US and UK technical experts have concluded that the unit does not appear to perform any function beyond what the defector said it was for, which was the production of biological agents," he said.


This is the first time a top Pentagon official has said the US military has in its possession what looks like evidence of an Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programme, says BBC Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs.

The US cited concerns about alleged weapons of mass destruction as its primary reason for invading Iraq in March, but so far none have been found.

Biological agents

Dr Cambone said the lorry, painted in a military colour scheme, came into the hands of US forces on 19 April at a Kurdish checkpoint near the town of Tall Kayf in northern Iraq.


Officials such as Tariq Aziz have apparently revealed nothing
It was found on a heavy-equipment transporter typically used for carrying tanks, he added.

The vehicle is the kind of mobile laboratory described to the United Nations' Security Council by US Secretary of State Colin Powell before the conflict began, Dr Cambone said.

Aboard the lorry was equipment that can be used to make biological weapons - living micro-organisms used deliberately to spread disease - including a fermenter that could help produce the germ warfare agents, he said.

But the Pentagon remains somewhat cautious and Dr Cambone would not call this a smoking gun, our correspondent says.

Dr Cambone said more tests will be required to see if there is evidence of actual biological agents.

He said the lorry's surface had been washed with a caustic material and that it would probably have to be taken apart for extensive testing.

[FairOpinion]

Picture and schematics of the first weapons lab found( from BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3008983.stm )

"US and UK technical experts have concluded that the unit does not appear to perform any function beyond what the defector said it was for, which was the production of biological agents," he said.

[American in Israel]

A beer making fermenter parked next to a missile delivery system. Man the Iraqi's like their beer FRESH!

[savedbygrace]

There's a fine line between being a weiner and being a hot dog.

[inconspicuous]

By Barton Gellman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 11, 2003; Page A01

BAGHDAD -- The group directing all *known* U.S. search efforts for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is winding down operations without finding proof that President Saddam Hussein kept clandestine stocks of outlawed arms, according to participants.


...I think they have finished searching the *known sites* and now it's time for the *buried treasure hunt*...