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Iraq Shows Drone Powell Called Dangerous
Iraq on Wednesday displayed a drone aircraft that resembled a large model plane, disputing U.S. claims that it represents a grave danger. Part of Washington's rush is based on its fears that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction, and U.S. officials have cited as proof what they called an undeclared drone that Iraq was developing to spread chemical and biological weapons.Look at the picture at the link. We're being conned. But Iraq showed journalists Wednesday what it said was the drone. Made mostly of balsa wood and held together with screws and duct tape, it had two small propellers attached to what looked like the engines of a weed whacker. This has to be a phony. Not even a Paleostinian would fly one of these. In New York, Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, said after inspectors examined photographs of the drone: "Yes, it would appear to be the drone with the 7.45 meter (24.5 foot) wingspan that was discovered by inspectors recently." He's trying to fool us again. Officials of the Ibn Firnas State Company, in the al-Taji area just north of Baghdad, said the drone is a prototype designed for reconnaissance, jamming and aerial photography. They said it couldn't possibly be used to spread weapons of mass destruction, and accused Secretary of State Colin Powell of misleading the world by saying it could. Powell told the U.N. Security Council that the drone "should be of concern to everybody." "He's making a big mistake," said Brig. Imad Abdul Latif, the project director for the drone. "He knows very well that this aircraft is not used for what he said." The aircraft is guided by a controller on the ground, who has to be able to see the plane to direct it, Latif said. He said the controls have a range of five miles a fraction of a U.N.-imposed limit of 93 miles. And this is why it's a phony. Even if you accept that it is to be used for aerial photogrpahy, there's no way you'd want one that has a range of only 5 miles: you'd be too close, and your opponent could swat you. If you're within five miles, get a good pair of binoculars. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, complained this weekend that Blix didn't mention the drone in his oral presentation to the Security Council on Friday. Blix mentioned the drone in a 173-page written list of outstanding questions about Iraq's weapons programs last week. While small, Blix said, drones can be used to spray biological warfare agents such as anthrax. He said the drone hadn't been declared by Iraq to inspectors. But Iraq insisted it declared the drone in a report in January, and Hiro Ueki, spokesman for the Baghdad inspectors, confirmed that. Ibn Firnas' general director, Gen. Ibrahim Hussein, said the confusion was the result of a typographical error: The declaration said the wingspan was 14.5 feet instead of 24.4 feet. "When we discovered the mistake we addressed an official letter correcting the wingspan," he said. Ueki confirmed that, saying Iraq declared a drone called the RPV-30A on Jan. 15 and pointed out what it called a typo on Feb. 18 a day after inspectors visited the airfield and saw the drone. This is way too pat. But Ueki said he couldn't confirm that the specifications Iraq declared matched what the inspectors saw, and said the drone issue was "under active investigation." The Iraqis are fairly sophisticated, and a decent drone that could fly out a ways wouldn't be that hard. Simple guidance/gyro, good engine, delivery system, radio system, all within reach of what they can do, especially since some of this stuff is small and easy to import. Posted by: Steve White 2003-03-13 |
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