IRAQ REMOVES ENGINES FROM DESTROYED AL SAMOUDS

middle east newsline ^ | 3/9/03

[knak]

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- U.S. intelligence has concluded that Iraq deceived the United Nations in its current effort to destroy the Al Samoud missile.

U.S. officials said the regime of President Saddam Hussein has not destroyed any Al Samoud missile deployed in forward bases in southern Iraq. Instead, they said, Iraq has brought out missiles from military warehouses and replaced the engines with those from the Soviet-origin SA-2 surface-to-air missile, developed in the 1950s.

"From recent intelligence, we know that the Iraqi regime intends to declare and destroy only a portion of its banned Al Samoud inventory and that it has, in fact, ordered the continued production of the missiles that you see being destroyed," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday. "Iraq has brought its machinery that produces such missiles out into the daylight for all to see. But we have intelligence that says, at the very same time, it has also begun to hide machinery it can use to convert other kinds of engines to power Al Samouds."

Iraq has declared that it has 100 Al Samoud missiles, half of them deployed by the military. So far, the UN Monitoring,Verification, and Inspection Commission reports that 34 such missiles have been destroyed.

[marajade]

I heard... FNC has already reported this too... Why is Blix responding an earlier UN resolution?

[kcvl]

Friday, 14 February, 2003, 19:13 GMT
Iraqi missile find raises tensions

Fresh allegations that Iraq is in breach of United Nations disarmament resolutions have been levelled at Baghdad after the discovery of a missile that marginally exceeds the maximum range set by the UN.

However, it has emerged that it was Baghdad itself that informed arms inspectors about the existence of the al-Samoud II missile, which experts say has a range of more than 150 kilometres (93 miles).

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz has insisted that the missile range is within the limits set by the United Nations.

But a panel of experts summoned by UN weapons inspectors said the missile could travel up to 180km (112 miles), just over the 150km limit imposed by the UN after the Gulf War.

This would be enough to hit Kuwait, for example, but not enough to reach Israel.

The inspectors first learned of the Iraqi missile's range from documents handed over to Mr Blix during his visit to Baghdad last weekend.

Mr Aziz said "the main problem is that Iraqi missiles which are of a very short range don't have a guidance system, and when a missile doesn't have a guidance system it goes five, 10, 15 kilometres beyond (target)".

He insisted that "that is not very dangerous and must not be exaggerated".

More...

[Howlin]

If this report turns out to be true, it certainly will be interesting to hear how France, Germany, and Kofi pass this off as "no breach."

[Cold Heat]

I sure don't know.

I have been wrong too many times.

I can tell you one thing for sure, the American view of the U.N. will never be the same.

[Howlin]

"Squash" worked fine.

[Mo1]

I'd like to do more then Nix him .. right now I'd like to kick him in the groin

[Howlin]

When is your birthday(s)?

[sheik yerbouty]

Ignorance is Blix.

[MJY1288]

Thank You Very Much

FReegards<

MJY

[Cold Heat]

March, 18th

[CyberAnt]

They were talking about this on FOX tonight! Bill Gertz was telling about the engine switch out - amazing!

[knak]

18th

[Spruce]

The UN can do as they will. They are irrelevant. As soon as they crossed the US they became baggage.

[kcvl]

28 Feb 2003 13:11
France's Villepin welcomes Iraq missile pledge

---

PARIS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Friday Iraq's pledge to begin destroying its al-Samoud missiles was an important step in the disarmament of Iraq and showed U.N. arms inspections generated results. He also said that a second United Nations resolution on Iraq was premature and that a majority in the Security Council was opposed to the initiative by the United States, Britain and Spain.

"It's an important step in the disarmament of Iraq. It confirms that the inspections give results," he said of Iraq's pledge, which the United States and Britain have said was insufficient.

"There is no reason to discontinue the peaceful disarmament of Iraq. We are opposed to the draft second resolution, as is a majority of the Security Council, and notably Russia," he said, speaking after a meeting with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou.

France has been a leading voice opposing a draft Security Council resolution which would authorise military intervention against Iraq.

[Spunky]

Get a look at this!

Thanks, but I read about this somewhere earlier because I posted about it on President Bush's Saturday Radio Thread.

To: Salvation
(Salvation Said:)Iraqi's dictator has made a public show of producing and destroying a few prohibited missiles. Yet, our intelligence shows that even as he is destroying these few missiles, he has ordered the continued production of the very same type of missiles

Spunky Said:"I just read that before he destroys these missiles he takes the good engines out of them and then replaces the engine with 1950's type engine. Blix and the inspectators are not there watching. Saddam just shows him the broken pieces."
16 posted on 03/08/2003 8:58 AM PST by Spunky

[MJY1288]

OOps, I was hoping to get a link to the 200 page report to the U.N., Not his verbal presentation

Do you have a link for this?

[Indy Pendance]

Maybe you all have discussed this, but possibly, the US was sitting on all this information, and released it today to use it as leverage for France, Germany, Russia and China?

[Indy Pendance]

Inspector Blixeau