Written on the Wind -Part 1 of a series-Iraqi USE of WMD During the Present Conflict

The Morning Paper - Special Edition | 07/30/05 | vanity

[genefromjersey]

WRITTEN ON THE WIND – WMD USE IN IRAQ (Part One)

Dedicated to the “Bush-Lied-People-Died “ Crowd : Greg Palast, Michael Moore ,Gerald Pressler, Mark Yannone,ANSWER,and MoveON.

Before the dust of battle settled in Baghdad ; while lovable Baghdad Bob was still telling rapt BBC reporters Saddam was in control of the situation,a chant began to rise-here and abroad.

Where are the Weapons of Mass Destruction ? Show us the WMDs !

For all your self-proclaimed intelligence, you were asking the wrong question: the right one being “Where is the rest of Saddam Hussein’s ammunition ?”

(The answer – “ in Syria” – did not satisfy you,even though the National Imagery and Mapping Agency told you about extraordinary road traffic from Iraq to Syria just before Operation Iraqi Freedom began, and even though some of those elusive goodies-in the form of VX gas had been intercepted as Syrian-based militants tried to use it in Jordan.)

The weapons – theater-launched ballistic missiles – loaded with biowarfare agents – had already been fired – at Coalition troops ; and they had left “bullet holes” as far away as India,Tanzania and New Zealand.

The warheads of these missiles had been loaded with botulinum – laced with a mycotoxin called tricothecene ; with anthrax; with ricin;and with aflatoxin. ( There was some thought one might have carried weaponized Marburg ,but distance and time factors suggest otherwise.)

There were 20 missiles fired by the Iraqis. The first launches were fairly accurate,and were aimed at US troops still massed in Kuwait. Three of these were knocked out by Patriot missile batteries. A fourth fell short,exploding in the desert.

The remaining missiles seemed to have been launched almost at random. They flew out over the desert and exploded – usually in mid-air-as they were designed to do. (Bio or chemical warheads are proximity fused to explode above massed troops – like Fourth of July fireworks – and to rain their deadly contents down.)

There were no Coalition troops in the areas these missiles exploded – but they were expected to be there.

In late 2002, an American officer, serving in the Pentagon, was approached by an Iraqi agent,who was willing to pay big money for a look at the US operation plans. The officer reported the contact immediately,and was instructed to “play along” . (The agent,and his courier-a “peace activist” from California-were scooped up by the FBI not long after Iraqi Freedom began.)

Counter-Intelligence agents supplied the officer with copies of OPLAN-1003: the original 1998 plan for Gulf War II . This plan had undergone at least 10 major revisions since then,and, apart from its title,bore little resemblance to the original.

It was a successful ruse: one that led Saddam to position his tanks around Baghdad – where they were virtually annihilated by air strikes,and to fire his limited supply of theater missiles into areas long since bypassed or vacated by Coalition troops.

Picture missiles, exploding like Roman candles above the desert. Picture the deadly plumes,descending slowly to the ground…then rising again as the hot thermals catch it,and whip it around like Satan’s own kite tail.

How far will those plume travel ? When and where will they come to earth ?

I’ll have some surprising answers for you in Part Two.

[genefromjersey]

Suggested Reading: “The Iraqi Biological Weapons Program” :

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iraq/bw-program.htm

“Botulinum Toxin as a Bioweapon” ( Journal of the American Medical Assn.)

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/285/8/1059

Of possible interest-especially the illustrations showing the plume from a Scud missile shot down at 5500’ . The material is from the First Gulf War.

http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/envs/scud_irfna.htm

Hardcover: “ American Soldier” by Tommy Franks

[Strategerist]

Strikes me as a wishful thinking fantasy.

And please give me the motivation for the Bush Administration covering it up....

[prisoner6]

Very interesting. Please keep me pinged on this series if you can.

Thanks!

prisoner6

[genefromjersey]

Who -besides you - says they "covered it up" ?

How do you cover up something you aren't even aware of ?

Hang in, watch for rest of series.