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| Iraq | |
| Iraqi Scientists Sought for Questioning | |
| 2003-03-23 | |
| The United States will soon be hunting down and interrogating hundreds of Iraqi scientists, technicians and others who were involved in Iraq's clandestine weapons programs, hoping they will help in the search for chemical, biological or nuclear materials. The general running the war in Iraq said Saturday he is certain those responsible — and the weapons they created — will be found. "There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction," Gen. Tommy Franks said at a briefing in Doha, Qatar. "And as this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them." Many of the people wanted for questioning have already been interviewed by U.N. weapons inspectors over the years. But those interviews were often conducted under the intimidating gaze of Saddam Hussein's regime, leaving inspectors doubtful as to whether they were being told everything they needed to hear. "Doubtful"? The Americans "may well get a lot more out of interviews than we did," said Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for the U.N. inspectors. "If there was something hidden, there was no way that people under the old environment would have told us where to look," he said. But, but, Blixie said the inspectors were making progress. You mean that wasn't so? Countries including France and Russia blocked the United States from winning U.N. support for the war partly because they saw no proof that Iraq still possessed weapons of mass destruction
We can use the prospect of Gitmo to loosen some tongues. But some Iraqi scientists may talk willingly once Saddam has been deposed. "Saddam is dead?" "Yeah doc, Saddam is dead." "Uday is dead? Please tell me Uday is dead." "Yep, big hemorrhage. Toes up." "Qusay is dead?" [drumming fingers] "All dead, doc. C'mon." "Well then, what are we waiting for?" U.S. and foreign disarmament specialists, including teams from Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, are equipped with ground-penetrating radar, sensors and sample-taking apparatus similar to that used by U.N. inspectors. Working with several former inspectors, they will likely go to many of the same locations inspectors have visited previously. Intelligence experts will be involved in questioning the scientists while disarmament specialists comb sites and analyze samples in the field using mobile labs. "This time, you won't have Iraqi security officials watching over you, you won't need anyone's permission to enter a site," said David Kaye, a former weapons inspector who worked in Iraq in the 1990s. President Bush and other U.S. officials have said Iraq's chemical stocks include the deadly nerve agents sarin, cyclosarin and VX and a mustard agent. Officials believe the weapons are under the control of the Republican Guard, Saddam's best trained and most loyal troops. A large part of those forces is concentrated in and around Baghdad. "Best trained Iraqi troops" -- that's like being the tallest dwarf in the circus. Pentagon officials who discussed the chemical weapons issue on condition of anonymity said it was unclear what rank of Iraqi officer had the authority to order the use of chemical weapons. The No. 1 Iraqi wanted for questioning about Iraq's chemical weapons is Amir al-Saadi, a special adviser to Saddam who oversaw the program. He is believed to have in-depth knowledge of other weapons program as well. "He'll be a big target," said David Albright, an American nuclear expert who served with U.N. inspectors in Iraq in the 1990s. I think Amir has a short life expectancy. Others named in Iraqi and U.N. documents as involved in developing long-range missiles that could be outfitted with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads include: I snipped the names listed, way too long. Fred, any of these jokers particularly odious? The International Atomic Energy Agency, which ran nuclear inspections in Iraq, has said it found no evidence that Iraq is restarting a nuclear program and dismisses U.S. intelligence information to the contrary. But U.S. officials have not backed down from their concerns. Specialists will want to speak with Jaffar al-Jaffer, who founded Iraq's nuclear program in the 1980s and Mahdi Obeidi, a nuclear physicist involved in Iraq's uranium enrichment program. In November, the Bush administration offered to protect Iraqi scientists who cooperated with U.N. weapons inspectors. But by the end of their four months in Iraq, inspectors had privately interviewed only 14 scientists of the 500 they had wanted to question. Hans Blix, the head of the U.N. inspections regime, has scheduled a training program in Brazil in April, and is keeping some inspectors and equipment in Cyprus so they could make a quick return to Baghdad once the fighting ends. Blix assumes we'll let him back in? Stay in Rio, Blixie, enjoy the girl-watching. "We have inspections Who, other than the Weasels? | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 Watchout, R. McLeod, if the left weren't already thinking it you've just reinvented the ol' CIA wheel. it's raining. The CIA done it My wheels broke The CIA done it That girl disagreed with me She must be CIA |
| Posted by: anon1 2003-03-23 07:28:23 |
| #5 I think he meant the bigger priority right now is the fighting, not the looking. |
| Posted by: RW 2003-03-23 07:04:12 |
| #4 That's right Anonymous. We're fighting and we're looking. Why is that a difficult concept? Oh, I know, it's the war on terror. We can't possibly hunt for al-Queda while we're fighting in Iraq, right? And when we do find these weapons, what'll your story be then? That the CIA planted them? The pro-Saddamers already have the stories ready. If the war goes quickly and well, they'll claim it was an unfair fight, that, see, Saddam was no threat. If gets rough, they'll shout "Quagmire!" If the sky is blue, they'll say it's raining. Whatever. The left has no credibility, just slogans... |
| Posted by: R. McLeod 2003-03-23 02:50:44 |
| #3 --The chief weapons inspectors reported several times that they had found nothing to support the administration's claims. And so far, invading U.S. forces have not found chemical or biological weapons. -- So, we're looking AND fighting? Please. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-23 02:32:53 |
| #2 Someone needs to read the story about the "Little Red Hen" to Hans and the security concil. |
| Posted by: Darkmark 2003-03-23 02:22:37 |
| #1 --The chief weapons inspectors reported several times that they had found nothing to support the administration's claims. And so far, invading U.S. forces have not found chemical or biological weapons. -- So, we're looking AND fighting? Please. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 3/23/2003 2:32:53 AM |