|
Powell speaks...
Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday showed satellite photos to the U.N. Security Council that he said was evidence of Iraqi deception on banned weapons. The photos showed what he said were weapons munition bunkers and a decontamination vehicle that are used in the event something goes wrong in the facility. He displayed a photo showing that before U.N. weapons inspectors arrived, the vehicle was gone and the facility cleaned up, and the inspectors found nothing. "This sequence of events raises the worrisome suspicion that Iraq had been tipped off," Powell said.Yes, doesn't it. Wonder by whom? He also played for the council an audiotape in which one Iraqi officer tells another to make sure that no modified vehicles are present if U.N. arms inspectors visit. "We evacuated everything. We don't have anything left," the junior officer reassured him. He was referring to a vehicle from the al-Kindi company, which Powell said was involved in "prohibited weapons activity." There's more. As this goes up, he's still speaking. One sequence includes message traffic on hiding nerve agents... From CNN: "They are inspecting ammunition you have... for the possibility there are forbidden ammo," said a voice Powell identified as an Iraqi official in the U.S. translation. "We sent you a message yesterday to clean out the areas, scrap areas, abandoned areas. Make sure there is nothing there."That one's a corker, I understand â even a French diplomat could understand the implications... WaPo carries the entire damning text. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-02-05 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=9916 |