"'This is the "smoking gun" the U.S. is looking for'" (Maria Gners, Svenska Dagbladet/Watch, 2003/08/03)
A partial translation of an article in today's paper version of the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. It should be noted that World Television Network doesn't even seem to have a site of their own and the only former mention of Wera Maria Cedrell I can find is in a dispatch on a meeting with Iraq's former information minister. But this is a big story in today's Swedish newspapers, with Expressen publishing "sensational", "world exclusive" pictures "which might prove that Saddam Hussein had WMD's" in its paper edition, for example:
"Experts from FOI [Swedish Defence Research Agency] accompanied the Monte Carlo based production company World Television Network, when they were doing a report in Iraq with a team fronted by the Swedish journalist Wera Maria Cedrell. Wera Maria Cedrell claims that she has evidence proving that Saddam's regime produced weapons of mass destructions as late as the last year.
"This is the "smoking gun" the U.S. is looking for," she says.
The allegations made by the TV team is based on tips from two Iraqi scientists. ...
The evidence consisted of files, documents and maps. ... After having been informed of the findings by telephone, FOI chose to send down two men.
"They flew down immediately and worked with us for a week. After a preliminary investigation they assessed that the findings were very interesting and almost to good to be true," Wera Maria Cedrell says.
The TV team and the experts visited buildings and locations pointed out by the Iraqi scientists. They describe the production of WMD's as small-scaled but copious.
"We visited about ten locations. Everything was looted, but only for chairs and tables — not documents. We found a lot of documents and blueprints, and also material and boxes." ...
The evidence will be presented in a series of books, which Wera Maria Cedrell currently are writing together with the American journalist Nate Thyer and an Iraqi member of the Governing Council."
She didn't get the memo. That's not good enough. We have to have proof he had WMD the day we launched attacks against our target of opportunity.