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| Iraq |
| US TROOPS CAPTURE CHEMICAL PLANT |
| 2003-03-23 |
| via the Jerusalem Post - registration req'd Caroline Glick Mar. 23, 2003 About 30 Iraqi troops, including a general, surrendered today to US forces of the 3rd Infantry Division as they overtook huge installation apparently used to produce chemical weapons in An Najaf, some 250 kilometers south of Baghdad. Hans didn't visit this one, hmmm? One soldier was lightly wounded when a booby-trapped explosive went off as he was clearing the sheet metal-lined facility, which resembles the eery images of scientific facilities in World War II concentration camps. The huge 100-acre complex, which is surrounded by a electrical fence, is perhaps the first illegal chemical plant to be uncovered by US troops in their current mission in Iraq. The surrounding barracks resemble an abandoned slum. How did they miss a 100 acre facility? Eh, Clouseau? It wasn't immediately clear exactly which chemicals were being produced here, but clearly the Iraqis tried to camouflage the facility so it could not be photographed aerially, by swathing it in sand-cast walls to make it look like the surrounding desert. Within minutes of our entry into the camp on Sunday afternoon, at least 30 Iraqi soldiers and their commanding officer of the rank of General, obeyed the instructions of US soldiers who called out from our jeep in loudspeakers for them to lie down on the ground, and put their hands above their heads to surrender. A General? That's the best clue that it might have significant value Today's operation is the third engagement with Iraqi forces by the First Brigade of the US army's 3rd Infantry Division, since Saturday afternoon. So far in the campaign, the brigade has suffered no losses. But two were wounded Saturday night in an ambush on the outskirts of As-Samwah in southern Iraq. Followup: FoxNews has picked up the story, so there's probably some confirmation. All that's on their Top Stories page so far is "Fox: 'Huge' Chemical Weapons Plant Discovererd in Southern Iraq" Guess they were typing it while I was looking for it... A senior pentagon official has confirmed to Fox News on Sunday that coalition forces have discovered a "huge" chemical weapons factory near the Iraqi city of An Najaf, which is situated some 225 miles south of Baghdad. Coalition troops are also said to be holding the general in charge of the facility. Brett Baer is reading the story now. Their source was the J-Post story, and they say they've got Pentagon confirmation... And SkyNews has it now, apparently from Fox... A huge chemical weapons factory has been found in Iraq, according to Pentagon sources. The facility was found by advancing US troops in An Najaf, around 100 miles south of Baghdad, the sources say. The general in charge of the factory was arrested by the 1st Brigade of the Third Infantry division and is being questioned, the sources said. An unconfirmed report by Fox news said the complex is around 100-acres, adjacent to military barracks and surrounded by an electric fence. |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #16 A reported 56 inspectors visited eight sites on 8 January. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) teams continued their focus on Iraqi cement factories, according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. A team of two IAEA inspectors toured the Al-Samawa Cement Factory in Al-Muthanna Province, 350 kilometers south of Baghdad; another group of inspectors (no number given) toured the Al-Kufa Cement Factory in Al-Najaf, 240 kilometers south of Baghdad. A third team of three inspectors toured the Karbala Cement Factory in Karbala, approximately 250 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. The ministry noted that the purpose of visiting the factories was to check the amounts of HMX explosives at these mining sites. The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) did not provide further details on this inspection. From here. Don't know if it's the same plant. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-03-23 20:54:41 |
| #15 The BBC and ABC have both confirmed the report. Can we pool some money to pay fare for Hans Blix , take him there and show the quality of INSPECTIONS!!! |
| Posted by: ISHMAIL 2003-03-23 20:41:44 |
| #14 Don't everyone jump on Blixie at once. After all, he would have found it after 2 months..maybe 4, or 6, certainly after 1 year, and if not, after 12 years. If still he couldn't find it, then he could pass the torch on to his offspring and they would be able to find the evidence. Then there's always the grandchildren, and also........ |
| Posted by: RW 2003-03-23 20:29:24 |
| #13 This just in--apparently it's not a chemical weapons facility, but a baby milk factory... (If not immediately obvious, that's sarcasm!) |
| Posted by: Dar Steckelberg 2003-03-23 19:50:26 |
| #12 Too bad the embedded journalist wasn't with ANY other media outlet... the JP affiliation will start the conspiracy theorists spinning right away. I hope that this is a legitimate find and not somehting that can be rationalized away. |
| Posted by: Tex 2003-03-23 19:25:18 |
| #11 Sky's got it too (they coop with FoxNews), but not clear what the plant is for and whether it is active. If so, we should force Blixie to take the first hit off of whatever's in the reactor vessels. |
| Posted by: JAB 2003-03-23 19:20:44 |
| #10 hey anonymous - who's biased? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-23 19:08:10 |
| #9 Fox says they've confirmed with the US that it found a chemical complex in An Najaf. No word on whether it was active. The Iraqi PR machine is still functioning so I hope we verify it was active before making a big deal about it. |
| Posted by: JAB 2003-03-23 18:58:10 |
| #8 ABCNEWS mentioned the plant and the generals on 7pm EST broadcast and sourced American officials. However their website says "nothing yet." |
| Posted by: JAB 2003-03-23 18:50:21 |
| #7 Fox news is confirming at 4:32PM PST - sometimes even the Jerusalem Post can be right... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-23 18:37:11 |
| #6 quote 'A General? That's the best clue that it might have significant value ' hehhe a general with 30 troops under his command . makes me think he was a grunt until 5 minutes b4 the place was captured . |
| Posted by: biggus 2003-03-23 12:21:19 |
| #5 Happy now Blix? You can go to your grave knowing that you could have prevented war - but instead you caused it. Someone show him the video of the captured soldiers..just so he can fully understand the magnitude of his ineptitude. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-03-23 12:18:59 |
| #4 This was released by the jerusalem post... that's an obvious bias. none of the US reporters have released it nor the united states militayr. DS |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-23 12:18:33 |
| #3 WOW! This is major news. Perfect to counterbalance the effect the Muslim world will have when watching the POW video |
| Posted by: g wiz 2003-03-23 11:43:55 |
| #2 Hmmm. Any comment from the French? |
| Posted by: LurkerTim 2003-03-23 11:40:37 |
| #1 It's amazing to watch all these "news" organizations trying to warp and twist what's going on. Al Najaf is only 150Km (94 miles) from Baghdad, not 250km. Lots of other such "mistakes". The biggest boner in the news lately, however, was a Lycos post that passengers from a hijacked Cuban "jet" were returning to Cuba. I've heard a DC-3 called a lot of things, but never a "jet". Where do they get these people? |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-03-23 13:40:51 |