[piasa]

OCTOBER 31, 2002 : (CRAOTIA INVESTIGATION OF THE SHIP 'BOKA STAR' UNCOVERS EXPLOSIVES) CROATIAN authorities, aided by investigators from Interpol, are continuing to examine the Boka Star, detained in the port of Rijeka under suspicion of transporting an illicit military cargo for Iraq. Croatia's interior ministry said on Tuesday it was trying to identify the explosives, earlier described as "multipurpose", which were seized during the search of 240 tonnes of cargo on board the Tonga-flagged ship. The explosive materials found on the vessel have been removed and stored in a secure warehouse outside Rijeka. - http://www.bicc.de/milex/homepg/tracker.php3?action=show&input%5Bid%5D=4101, reported in Bonn International Center for Conversion, November 5, 2002

[Contra]

I'm sure they're being watched for intelligence gathering purposes, like when the police put a tail on somebody. But at some point they need to be sunk to make a statement. Once sunk, it would be interesting to see if any countries said anything. Probably not.

[Cindy]

ALERT - This thread is a must read.

***An Informative Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding an article by IDF.il - Spokesperson's Unit dated January 19, 2003: "AL-QAEDA IS A DANGER TO THE FREE WORLD" (updated 021603)

[Cindy]

INDEPENDENT.co.uk: "THREE MYSTERY SHIPS ARE TRACKED OVER SUSPECTED 'WEAPONS' CARGO" by Michael Harrison (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Attempts to link the Iraqi regime to al-Qa'ida and other Islamist groups have also been met with scepticism. The UN says, though, that Iraq has failed to account for 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents from the war against Iran; to reveal the whereabouts of 6,500 missing chemical rockets; to produce evidence it has destroyed 8,500 litres of anthrax; and to account for 380 rocket engines smuggled into Iraq with chemicals used for missile propellants and control systems.

Intelligence reports, and some Iraqi defectors, have maintained that incriminating material and documents relating to weapons of mass destruction have been buried in remote parts of the country and have also been hidden in a variety of locations including homes of officials and scientists, as well as mosques. There have also been claims that chemical and biological products have been smuggled into Syria.") (February 19, 2003)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=379623

[Cindy]

"The vessels are thought to have spent much of their time in the deep waters of the Indian Ocean, berthing at sea when they need to collect supplies of fuel and food. They have berthed in a handful of Arab countries, including Yemen."

YEMEN --- I wonder what Yemen knows about the "cargo" and the "ships." Any human cargo of interest traveling on board? Well, anyway, we'll see what develops....

[Pan_Yans Wife]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/263corhl.asp
Al Qaeda's Nightmare Scenario Emerges

[Allan]

Seems to be an earlier posted article
about the same subject
I pinged you about.

[b4its2late]

Smoking gun?

[VOA]

If they were carrying chemical and biological weapons, or fissile nuclear material, and
they were to be sunk at sea, the environmental damage could be catastrophic.

(Warning: naive, amateur musings alert!)

At first blush, I contemplated a Tom Clancy end to this situation: three small nuclear
weapons set off to destroy the ships and sterilize the surrounding area of the ocean.

But I think another route would be using multiple waves of those Fuel Air Explosive munitions
or some version of the thermobaric bombs.
Just keep dropping them (for hours if needed) until the ocean boils for a half-hour or so
around the burned-out (and hopefully not sunk) hulks of the three ships.

I'm sure the enviros would go nuts and the anti-freedom/anti-Dubya folks would say
"look, you still didn't find any weapons of mass destruction!"...
but that may be a low price to pay for a sterile incineration of tons of
anthrax and lots of other biological/chemical weapons.

Of course, I think the compassionate thing to do would be to drop some pamphlets
(in Arabic or other needed language) saying: "You don't have time to scuttle your ship
and get in a lifeboat. You only have time to get into the lifeboat and away from your
ship as it will be consumed in flames in less than five minutes.
Remember we always delivered on our promises in the Gulf War. Stay on the ship if you
wish to be melted.
Sincerely,
The United States Navy"

[GOPJ]

bump

[GOPJ]

bump

[NorseWood]

If this is Saddam's new verion of "Carnival Cruise Lines" then I think we should cristen his ships with cruise missiles.

[Kay Soze]

Bump for reading later today.

[Cindy]

INDEPENDENT.co.uk: "ALARM OVER CARGO SHIP TRACKED BY INTELLIGENCE" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "n response to a report in The Independent yesterday, the Government will also be questioned over Britain's defence against illegal maritime trafficking in arms, people and drugs. Shipping industry sources said the three vessels set sail three months ago, spending much of their time in the Indian Ocean.

John Eldridge, the editor of Jane's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence, said he was not surprised President Saddam might have decided to hide his illicit weapons at sea. He said: "It seems an extremely elegant scheme with a view to hiding these things until the heat is off."

Mr Eldridge said the Iraqi regime could easily have smuggled out the weapons in sealed containers through neighbouring countries. He said: "There's no way you could detect what they were without boarding the ship.

"Saddam never ceases to surprise the West with some of his off-the-wall actions."

Stuart Syrad, a maritime security consultant and former senior officer with the Special Boat Service, agreed the report was credible.") (February 20, 2003)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=379893
###

SAAG.org - South Asia Analysis Group Paper No.608: "INDIA, IRAQ & US" by B. Raman (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "12. The US allegations of the Saddam Hussein Government's links with bin Laden and Al Qaeda remain unproved, but is it not a fact that Iraq has had contacts with the organisation of Carlos, the jackal, the Abu Nidal Organisation, the anti-Teheran Mujahideen-e-Khalq and the anti-Shia and anti-Teheran Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and its militant wing the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ)? The LEJ is a member of bin Laden's IIF and strongly supports his arguments on the right and duty of the Muslims to acquire WMD. Should India not be concerned over the dangers of the leakage of WMD from Iraq to anti-India terrorist elements through elements of the LEJ? Such a possibility may be  remote, but India's national security managers cannot ignore it.") (February 8, 2003)
http://www.saag.org/papers7/paper608.html
###

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Forming up a ping list here for War_List.

Anyone want on or off send me a Freep mail.
I can see the volume getting high.
I want on anyones bump list for articles going on the War_List

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Minutemen]

bump