Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Defector: I Bought Iraq Nukes
New York Daily News ^ | 4/03/02 | HELEN KENNEDY

Posted on 04/03/2002 1:35:08 AM PST by kattracks

An Iraqi defector has given Pentagon officials a detailed inside look at Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein's biological and chemical weapons programs — and told of buying nuclear materials with a briefcase full of $100 bills.

The defector, whose story is recounted in the new edition of Vanity Fair magazine, says he was involved in the most sensitive of Iraq's secret arms programs before fleeing a year and a half ago.

Presented to U.S. officials by the Iraqi National Congress, a London-based exile group pushing for an American attack on Iraq, the defector says Saddam is close to finishing a long-range ballistic missile that could hit Cairo; Ankara; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Nicosia, Cyprus, or Tehran.

The defector said he helped run a network of shell corporations that smuggled missile parts hidden inside TV sets and refrigerators.

He claims also to have worked on weapons programs, saying he came up with the idea to house eight mobile germ labs in meat and dairy trucks.

The defector told Vanity Fair he also was involved in Saddam's nuke program, saying he and two colleagues were sent on a clandestine trip to Tanzania in 1994.

He says they met with five Eastern Europeans and traded a briefcase stuffed with $100 bills for a heavy metal trunk of "what looked like pieces of black rock, glittery."

The description could match pieces of spent nuclear reactor fuel rods — the type of material that could be used in a radiological, or dirty, bomb.

The defector was one of 29 suspected conspirators arrested in 1998. He says he was tortured, interrogated and sexually abused for six months, then freed when it was clear he was innocent. He said such treatment normally serves to frighten Iraqis into line, but he resolved to escape.

The defector also said Iraq is backing and training the Hamas leaders who are sending suicide bombers into Israel — even showing them how to build bombs.




TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1998; africa; ballisticmissile; dirtybomb; fuelrod; fuelrods; hamas; iraq; iraqi; iraqidefector; israel; missile; missileprogram; missiles; radiologicalbomb; suicidebombers; tanzania; wmd

1 posted on 04/03/2002 1:35:08 AM PST by kattracks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Saddam sounds like these hostage takers who are about to blow everyone they can before they get caught and killed by authorities.
2 posted on 04/03/2002 1:37:30 AM PST by lavaroise
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lavaroise
and now we know EXACTLY why Israel is "invading" and doing door to door searches in the occupied territories.

the threat of a dirty bomb... is real.

3 posted on 04/03/2002 1:49:35 AM PST by Robert_Paulson2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Robert_Paulson2
Good point Robert.
4 posted on 04/03/2002 1:55:26 AM PST by happygrl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
These defector stories are getting laughable.
After a while nobody will believe them anymore.
The CIA should tell Iraqi National Congress to come up with better stories.
5 posted on 04/03/2002 2:13:53 AM PST by konijn
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: konijn
We'll see who laughs last...
6 posted on 04/03/2002 3:00:31 AM PST by DB
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Robert_Paulson2
The threat of a dirty bomb is quite real. It is what the next step in the barbarian's war on humanity will be. They believe it will scare us into capitulating.

They're obviously wrong. It will push us into severe retaliation.

We know the people behind all this... they will be nuked, without question. If they choose bioterror, the same result will send them to hell.

7 posted on 04/03/2002 3:02:02 AM PST by Principled
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Keep stacking up the evidence against Iraq because soon we will be ready to roll with or without the arab world's consent. I think we will have support though with all of the latest Iraq grumblings.

Iraq Presents Five-Point Demand to Arab League

8 posted on 04/03/2002 4:09:35 AM PST by Mixer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
hussein has been killing americans ever since the gulf war. for some strange reason the us govt doesn't want the public to know this. that part mystifies me.
9 posted on 04/03/2002 4:17:26 AM PST by kinghorse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
The description could match pieces of spent nuclear reactor fuel rods — the type of material that could be used in a radiological, or dirty, bomb.

Well, looks like this guy was sold phoney material. Spent fuel, even if it has been allowed to cool for 10 years, is still quite hot (perhaps 10,000 R/hr at 3 feet). A 3 minute exposure at this distance is lethal. There could not possibly be enough shielding in that trunk to allow anyone to carry it around without showing obvious signs of acute exposure.

Looks like another "shiny casing filled with pinball machine parts"

10 posted on 04/03/2002 4:48:14 AM PST by kidd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kidd
But he's a defector! And those people never lie or misrepresent, or have an agenda of their own besides desire to help us, right? I'm sure the Iraqui National Congress would never lie or distort in order to induce us to help them. (/sarcasm)
11 posted on 04/03/2002 5:07:47 AM PST by historian1944
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: historian1944
Re #11

Or they were scammed with bogus material. I wonder how many bogus nuclear material Saddam ended up buying. I think his batting average in this area will improve.

12 posted on 04/03/2002 6:07:45 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: kidd
The defector's account is credible to me. I really like this guy's account:

Saddam's Bombmaker

The defector in this article is saying things consistent with Khidr's account. Among other things, the Iraqis were so desperate to get their hands on this sort of stuff that they gladly paid silly money for fraudulent products.

But they didn't get ripped off all the time, so you shouldn't dismiss them just because they were easily fooled.

D

13 posted on 04/03/2002 6:11:12 AM PST by daviddennis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: daviddennis
I found him to be credible as well. He probably did not have a good technical background, so to him, this was the real stuff.

I think a lot of eastern Europeans are getting rich off of Iraqi money. I have yet to see a report that suggests that a credible transfer of nuclear materials to Iraq has taken place, but if you can link me to one, I would like to see it. Honest.

14 posted on 04/03/2002 6:30:38 AM PST by kidd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: kidd
The following is per Saddam's Bombmaker, which is definitely worth a read if you're interested in this sort of thing. My memory might be shaky on a few of the details, but I think I have the spine of the story right.

They did succeed in buying a "test" reactor from the french; they paid about triple market for it, and I'm sure everyone involved knew what it was really for.

The French apparently told Israeli intelligence about it, because it was bombed to ashes shortly after it was installed. I suspect this is why the French were willing to sell.

I don't know what happened to the nuclear material, but my guess would be that there was not enough to do anything significant.

Still, that is one genuine transfer of nuclear material to Iraq. Of course the circumstances are hardly likely to encourage paranoia, since they spent a couple of hundred million on a crater on the ground, but there you have it.

Maybe the Russians spent so much money fooling Saddamm they didn't have any need to show Iraq anything real? Anyone selling nuclear secrets to Iraq has to know that the consequences are going to be horrible. Perhaps that's enough to restrain even the Russians.

D

15 posted on 04/03/2002 6:46:37 AM PST by daviddennis
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: daviddennis
Jeepers, how could I forget that? < right hand=slap forehead>< move hand=keyboard>

Thanks.

16 posted on 04/03/2002 7:05:51 AM PST by kidd
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: konijn
I get that feeling too... or that it's a disinformation campagin.. almost like these stories are so laughable Saddam is using them on purpose to make the world say to the US... "this is all you got HAHAHAHA you guys seriously have to be kidding me."
18 posted on 04/03/2002 9:54:39 AM PST by Almondjoy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson