Iraq gives al Qaida VX Gas

efreedomnews ^ | Jonathon Rhodes

[xzins]

Iraq gives al Qaida VX Gas
efreedomnews.com
December 14, 2002

Jonathan Rhodes
14 December 2002

 

 

Washington Post writer Barton Gellman reported December 12, 2002 that al Qaida received VX nerve gas from Iraq in October - smuggled through the Turkish border. [Washington Post Article] Gellman is a well-respected reporter, known to confirm his facts and sources.

The report came from "Knowledgeable officials, speaking without White House permission," who " said information about the transfer came from a sensitive and credible source whom they declined to discuss." "The way we gleaned the information makes us feel confident it is accurate," said one official whose responsibilities are directly involved with the report. "I throw about 99 percent of the spot reports away when I look at them. I didn't throw this one away."


 Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, was the only official authorized by the White House to discuss the matter on the record. He said, ""We are concerned because of al Qaeda's interest in obtaining and using weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, and we continue to seek evidence and intelligence information with regards to their planning activity."

Further substantiating the VX report, Gellman's article said,

Prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency, last week's "Turkey Defense Terrorism Threat Awareness Message" warned of a possible chemical weapons attack by al Qaeda on the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey. Incirlik is an important NATO facility from which a U.S.-led coalition in 1991 launched thousands of bombing runs to force Iraq to withdraw its army from Kuwait. Turkey has given conditional agreement to its use in the event of a new war with Iraq.

One official said the transaction involved Asbat al-Ansar, a Lebanon-based Sunni extremist group that recently established an enclave in northern Iraq. Asbat al-Ansar is affiliated with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization and receives funding from it.

Al-Qaida has  a history of chemical weapons development and has used cyanide gas in failed attacks in Jordan and England. After Afghanistan fell, the US found a development and testing facility for lethal chemicals in an al Qaida camp in Derunta, Afghanistan named "Abu Kebab," the nom de guerre of Midhat al Mursi an Egyptian al Qaida operative who ran the chemical weapons program.  Anti-Taliban fighters discovered low-grade uranium for use in "dirty bombs", cyanide and other poisonous chemicals in an underground al Qaida storage facility near the Kandahar airport after they captured it in December 2001. Videotaped al-Qaida lethal gas experiments on dogs were discovered in August 2002.

In June 1998, the UN WMD inspection team in Iraq,  UNSCOM, confirmed that VX nerve gas had been loaded into Iraqi missiles [FAS.org report].  UNSCOM In January 1999, said in its final report that it could not account for 1.5 tons of the VX known to have been produced in Iraq, and that it could not establish whether additional quantities had been made. [UNSCOM January 1999]

Of course Iraq completely denied the Washington Post report.

"This is really a ridiculous assumption from the American administration," Iraqi Lt. Gen. Hussam Mohammed Amin said at a news conference in Baghdad. "They know very well we have no prohibited substances. We're used to hearing such reports from the enemies of Iraq, from the intelligence services of the CIA, Britain and Mossad."

Still the question remains -

Has Iraq, in its most recent declaration of WMD, documented the destruction of the 1.5 tons of VX UNSCOM could not confirm prior to leaving in 1998? If not, then Iraq has not adopted a path of compliance with its UN obligations. If Iraq only makes critical denials there is no substance or credibility to its position.

[xzins]

credible intelligence has been mounting on this for some time.

why do we think the President put it front and center in his complaints last night???....the idea of terrorists slipping a small container of wmd into this country.

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Another material breech. And another. And so on. And on.

[chance33_98]

Iraq is a Regional Threat, capable of as much as 200 tons of VX nerve agent (1999 Clinton report)

[ApesForEvolution]

Sheesh, do the anti-war communists have to get a personal whiff of a bio/chem/nuclear attack before they get it? Ah...never mind.

[johnb838]

Ya know, in some ways this IS like WWII. The peace-niks are out there screaming "no war, no war." Then if we DO get hit again they will be forever saying "W let it happen to get us into war."

The traitorous left needs to be rounded up and detained incommunicado for the duration.

[Kay Soze]

As long as the Vx is used at a celebrity gathering in the Mailbu Ben & Jerry's with:

Martin Sheen and his drug addict boys, Susan Sarnadon, Brad Pitt, Alex Baldwin, Jane Fonda, Ed Asner, Bonnie Raitt
Brabara Stresissand-

I have no Problem with this.

[xzins]

Is that BraBra Streisand?

She's lifted those (and her face) like CSI does fingerprints.

Let her sample a little VX for breakfast.

[xzins]

John Kennedy would not have been this traitor that his brother is.

Wouldn't surprise me that Ted was on the grassy knoll.

[Diogenesis]

THIS JUST IN: "Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) says the VX taken by al Qaeda from Saddam
was really just a vitamin to be distributed for infrastructure, day-care facilities, and health-care facilities."

[mewzilla]

Speaking of Hussein, did anyone else just catch Frank Gaffney on MSNBC's Nachman? Gaffney was talking about what we've got on Saddamn, and he referred to info that implicates Iraq in not only the '93 WTC bombing, but also the OKC bombing. Boy did one of the libs also on the program, Neil Forgot-His-Last-Name, go berserk. If we have info linking Saddamn to those bombings...

[Rain-maker]

Roflmao...thanks for the chuckle Diogenesis.

[Lopeover]

The Communists want America to be destabilized in order for them to take over. Hey, there are Chicoms at the Panama Canal. Many Dems are friendly and politically communists and want America destabilized.

[dark_lord]

Why bother with getting something and trying to smuggle it all the way from Iraq to the US?

The real problem is the common castor bean plant produces ricin.
This stuff is really, really deadly. See here for nasty details on symptoms and how medical personnel might respond.
Of course, our own government provides a nifty list for terrorists of all useful bomb making, poison gas and fluid, and other mayhem oriented recipes and "how-to" books right here. So the next time you worry that terrorists here in the US can get info on how to make bombs, and recipes for ricin etc. - why our own government is happy to steer them in the right direction.
And, here's how to make the wicked stuff.

Note that last site - www.r00t-access.org has a whole collection of bad stuff - they might as well be called Terrorists R Us

Al Queda getting VX from Iraq should not be at the top of our worry list. And, in case you are worried that I am posting something here that terrorists (or bored teenagers) don't know about - it only took me 20 minutes to find all of the above.

[ApesForEvolution]

You nailed that one.

[ApesForEvolution]

Somebody was trying to convince me the other day that coyotes were transporting asians (Red chinese nationals) through our southern border! They claimed that there are PLA amassing south of the border!! I want to go down and do some investigating to find out first hand.