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| Axis of Evil |
| Powell speaks... |
| 2003-02-05 |
| 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 — even a French diplomat could understand the implications... WaPo carries the entire damning text. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #7 How soon the Dumocraps forget! "We evacuated everything..." |
| Posted by: Anonymous4330 2004-04-19 7:21:59 PM |
| #6 I though Powell did a magnificent job. Ninty minutes of documentation that was clear concise and to the point. Bravo. His comment on anthrax was very interesting. Without drawing a direct link to the attack last year, he left the unspoken inference....those that perpetuated that attack are now on notice. Either that link is too sensitive to release at this time or the FBI is still running a sting. |
| Posted by: john 2003-02-05 18:50:42 |
| #5 Is this new info by Powell? Anything relating this to the anthrax attacks here? "By 1998, UN experts agreed that the Iraqis had perfected drying techniques for their biological weapons programmes. Now, Iraq has incorporated this drying expertise into these mobile production facilities. We know from Iraq's past admissions that it has successfully weaponised not only anthrax, but also other biological agents, including botulinum toxin, aflatoxin and ricin." |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-02-05 15:43:05 |
| #4 Did anyone else catch the Fischer's closing reference to "applying these techniques elsewhere"? |
| Posted by: Dishman 2003-02-05 14:56:25 |
| #3 quick internet poll results - did powell make his case? FOX: 95% yes (well, no surprise) MSNBC 74% yes BBC: 45% Yes - Not bad consideiring their audience, overseas as well as in UK. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-02-05 13:12:49 |
| #2 A slam-dunk for Powell. Time for France to quickly find enough weasel words to save face without exercising a veto. But, then, do we really need another resolution... The U.N. Security Council is proven to be irrelevent. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2003-02-05 12:00:36 |
| #1 I blogged real time. I guess I had hoped for more "Gee whiz" new information. The general rehash says to me that it's put up or shut up time for the UN, and that we really weren't trying to change any minds. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-02-05 11:04:37 |