U.N.: Weapons Equipment Missing in Iraq

AP on Yahoo ^ | 6/2/05 | Edith M. Lederer - AP

[Arkie2]

You're using logic, common sense and knowledge here. Be very careful.

[baystaterebel]

"It's talking about various industrial facilities, machines, etc. that could theoretically be used to MAKE WMDs, or make things that could then be used to make WMDs."

*YAWN*

Ever read the ISG report? Wanna link?

ISG stated that the programs still existed at low levels and the duel use items facilitated a quick ramping up of these programs when Saddam deemed the time is right.

You can split hairs all you want. Been there and done that. Fact remains Saddam had in his possession items he was not supposed to have for programs he wasn't supposed to have that could be placed on missiles he wasn't supposed to have that could go beyond the ranges his missiles were not supposed to go. P.S. Some of these machines you refer to can not just be looted, stolen, or secreted away in the middle of the night. They are large heavy and cumbersome. To move one takes cranes, lifts, trucks, and knowledge of how to move them.

[Ramius]

Well... with regard to some of the stuff that is no longer there, it is probably fair to say that we've had something to do with that as well.

[alrea]

Let's get us some of them long range missles to kill these school children helping the great satan.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Maybe all the weapons stuff went missing from UN monitored sites but I bet Scott Ritter knows where every little girl in his neighborhood lives.

[SeaBiscuit]

Good post, right on the mark. Double standards all the way around for anyone anti-American.

[hiredhand]

What a pile of steaming crap! While the U.N. was there, Saddam ferreted this sort of stuff around under their noses and they never saw it. Now that we're in control over there, the U.N. has come to the conclusion that it's missing?

r-i-g-h-t.

[Pan_Yan]

Help me out here ...

Is this article saying that the U.N. is using somebody's satellites (assume European) to spy on us in Iraq since we won't let them in anymore?

[JasonC]

"have been blocked from returning to Iraq"

Bullfeathers. They got bombed once, and ran for the tall grass.

[PISANO]

What's with all this "duel" use exceptions?

It's the ESCAPE CLAUSE for any condemnation or action ever being taken against IRAQ or any other country that has produced WMD and vows the annihilation of Western Civilisation.

Further proof the UN is USELESS!!

[angkor]

it is probably fair to say that we've had something to do with that as well.

Some improverished countries can't build telco infrastructures because the copper wire is always being stolen, both before and after it's laid.

In Iraq, one would think anthrax cauldrons and other junk present the same commercial appeal to scrap hustlers.

And yes, some of it probably disappeared with a great BOOM, courtesy of the U.S. military.

[TomasUSMC]

We are talking about, "The report said 3,380 valves, 107 pumps, and more than 7.8 miles of pipes were known to have been located at the 39 chemical sites."

-pumps, valves and pipe. Gimme a break.

[chaosagent]

bookmark

[Eagles6]

A good friend tells me that his unit discovered many bunkers with hidden barrels of organophosphate pesticides(NOT LAYING AROUND ON THE FARM), along with binary rockets and mortar shells. GA, GB,VX and sarin are all organophosphate nerve weapons. I'm not a chemist but could these organophosphate pesticides be used as or turned into chemical weapons even if not as deadly as the name brands? If not, saddam sure went to great lengths to make us believe he had chemical weapons and guess what? We took him at his word.

I still believe that much went to syria, the bekka and iran.

[Eagles6]

Oh yeah! Remember al-Qaa Qaa? That was the site that was supposedly looted of hundreds of tons of high explosive, according to jfkerry, just before the election. Turns out the un was monitoring it but couldn't tell us when they saw it last. More of the same I guess. Doesn't matter if you could mix those chemicals to produce a nerve weapon. As long as they were labelled as pesticide, then that's what they were.

[CyberAnt]

What ..????

There isn't any WMD in Iraq .. that's what the media said ..?? and they had to be telling the truth didn't they ..??????

[Charles Wickman]

He said it could have been moved elsewhere in Iraq, sold as scrap, melted down or purchased.
He said the missing material can be used for legitimate purposes. "However, they can also be utilized for prohibited purposes if in a good state of repair."
He said imagery analysts have identified 109 sites that have been emptied of equipment to varying degrees, up from 90 reported in March.

What is really interesting in the last line "up from 90"?
....what is he getting at?
Why aren't these sites being guarded?

We need more boots on the ground to wipe out these b@stards!

%~#*&%#*!!!!!!!!!!!

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

Just who was lying?!?!

Damn good point.

[Pro-Bush]

In the report to the U.N. Security Council, acting chief weapons inspector Demetrius Perricos said he's reached no conclusions about who removed the items or where they went. He said it could have been moved elsewhere in Iraq, sold as scrap, melted down or purchased.

How about the possibility of wmd's being transported to Syria during the buildup to gulf war II?

[repubpub]

I see what you are getting at. What I am leery about is that no where in this article does it say when the UN received the satellite images or from whom. Why haven’t the images been given to our military to examine. From what I see is that they had stuff that could produce WMD at the flip of a switch. They also had banned long-range missiles that they were not supposed to have. Why wasn’t this disclosed before? It sounds like someone is trying to set W up before Bolton gets in.