Blix disputes Iraq's anthrax claims

reuters ^ | 3/6/03

[OldFriend]

Easy does it. Let's not give the FR haters a reason to attack.

[Semper911]

Iraq had declared 8,445 litres (2,230 gallons) anthrax

I suspect that is enough to kill every man, woman, and child on the planet. And that only what the bastard admits to having.

[Carry_Okie]

Nix Blix.

Blitz.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

Yes, Bush tapped the brakes a bit on the war fever that had built over the last few days. We're still a couple, maybe three, weeks off from any full attack.

He's still couching every war comment with "if necessary", so he's still holding out an opportunity for diplomacy.

I'm recommending that a lot of folks buy some ear plugs, because the garbage coming over the airwaves is going to get intense as this slowly plays out over the next weeks in the U.N.

[Sinner6]

I was thinking blix would become short hand for Useful Idiot.

[exit82]

You could be right. After all, that's how we got the word "quisling" for traitor.

[Consort]

...Silly rabbit!

[Starstruck]

Bush is not one of these idiots who believe that Saddam will eventually see reason. Actually it is probably because of these idiots that he will never see it. "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin."

[glock rocks]

ignorance is blix.

[GirlShortstop]

Blix said Iraq needed to provide documentation or other evidence to support its account.

Hey wait a second... didn't that NEED TO PROVIDE date pass on December 7th?   Who's omitting facts, the terrorist lovers (reuters), or the lawyer, Blix?   

[exit82]

Shows that things haven't changed in what, 2,600 years? And in the same place, too.

Daniel Chapter 5 is a prime example of how God changes the course of history, and how empires can rise and fall, in a single night.

[VOA]

Blix disputes Iraq's anthrax claims

Sounds like "material breach" to me.

Let's Roll...

[exit82]

A very succinct, but truthful on many levels, play on words.

[glock rocks]

i stole it. i would attribute it, but it was a tagline on a string long (in my feeble middle aged fog) forgotten :o|

[Starstruck]

Or to God a night is like 4400 nights or 4400 nights is like one night. It all comes out in the wash. Good catch.

[Theo]

Blix had ordered the Al Samouds destroyed.

Does he have authority to do that? I thought he was an "inspector." I might be wrong....

[PhiKapMom]

On another top -- you will enjoy:

Ex-Attorney General Morales Indicted

.c The Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales was charged Thursday with trying to steer millions of dollars in attorney fees from the state's tobacco settlement to a friend.

Morales, a Democrat who ran for governor last year, was also accused in the federal indictment of illegally using campaign contributions to help pay for a new house.

``This is a case of an elected official charged with abusing the public trust,'' U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton said. ``This indictment alleges that he violated that trust by backdating contracts, forging government records and converting campaign contributions to personal use.''

Morales, who left office in 1999, did not immediately return a call by The Associated Press, but told The Austin American-Statesman that he has done nothing wrong. He was expected to turn himself in to the FBI on Friday, authorities said.

The 12-count indictment follows a long-running investigation into the legal fees paid out from the state's $17.3 billion settlement with tobacco companies in 1998. Morales and Marc Murr, a Houston attorney and friend, were both charged with mail fraud and conspiracy.

As attorney general, Morales hired five private attorneys to handle the state's case and they received $3.3 billion in fees from the settlement. The fees soon became the subject of a federal investigation as allegations of wrongdoing surfaced.

In December 1997, Murr asked for $520 million for his role as an adviser to Morales, but other attorneys complained Murr did little work on the case. They challenged the fee, which was reduced to $1 million in arbitration. Murr later abandoned the claim after Morales' successor began an investigation. He returned $80,000 he had already received.

Michael Ramsey, an attorney for Murr, said the scope of the indictment is unfair and that he was disappointed Murr was included in the same indictment with Morales.

Morales left office in January 1999 after not seeking re-election. His successor, now-Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, joined federal officials in investigating the fees, prompting Morales to accuse the Republicans of pursuing a politically motivated investigation.

Morales and the five lawyers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

In November, Morales wrote a letter to Republican state leaders urging them to pursue a case against the five lawyers to recoup their legal fees, saying he had learned their conduct ``may constitute a breach of fiduciary duty to the state.''

Michael Tigar, an attorney representing the five lawyers, said Morales was trying to use the matter to boost his own political fortunes. No charges were filed against the five attorneys.

Morales was also accused of filing a false tax return and lying on a loan application.

According to the indictment, Morales transferred approximately $400,000 from his campaign funds to his personal account to help pay for a down payment and improvements on his new $775,000 home. Morales has said he used proceeds from the sale of another house.

Prosecutors also say he lied to obtain a $600,000 mortgage loan and filed a 1998 tax return he knew undervalued his income.

Conspiracy and mail fraud carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The loan application charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Morales lost to Tony Sanchez in the Democratic gubernatorial primary last year, and he later endorsed Republican Gov. Rick Perry. The governor has described Morales as a friend.

On the Net:

U.S. Attorney: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txw



03/06/03 23:23 EST

[ConservativeLawyer]

"Based on this information, UNMOVIC estimates that about 21,000 litres (5,547 gallons) of biological warfare agent was stored in bulk at locations remote from Al Hakam. About half of this, about 10,000 litres (2,641 gallons) was anthrax," Blix wrote in the report.

"It therefore seems highly probable that the destruction of the bulk agent, including anthrax, stated by Iraq to be at Al Hakam in July-August 1991 did not occur," the report said."

Iraq anthrax ping.

[bonesmccoy]

Can someone please tell the UN to obtain a copy of the Bacillus anthracis from Iraq and to give said B. anthracis to USAMRIID for genetic comparison analysis to the anthrax species used in the October 2001 attacks????