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Iraq Official: Saddam Moved WMD to Syria
News Max ^ | Jan 26 2006 | Georges Sada

Posted on 01/26/2006 9:20:54 AM PST by plenipotentiary

Iraq Official: Saddam Moved WMD to Syria

The former number two official in Saddam Hussein's Iraqi air force claims the former Iraqi dictator moved weapons of mass destruction from Iraq to Syria in the months preceding the current Iraq war.

Georges Sada revealed the charges in an interview Wednesday with the New York Sun. They are detailed in his new book, "Saddam’s Secrets.”

"Saddam realized, this time, the Americans are coming," Sada told the Sun. "They handed over the weapons of mass destruction to the Syrians.”

The former Iraqi general said Special Republican Guard brigades loaded WMDs onto two converted Iraqi Airways planes.

He said he was told of the operation by two pilots that helped transport the materials. Sada says 56 flights were made, and were accompanied by a ground convoy of trucks carrying similar materials.

The Sun reports that the flights attracted scant international attention because they occurred at the same time that Iraq was sending relief to Syria for a dam collapse.

Sada’s claims echoed those made by Moshe Yaalon, Israel’s top general in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Yaalon told the Sun in December that Saddam had "transferred the chemical agents from Iraq to Syria.”

According to the Middle East Quarterly, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon issued a similar warning in a Dec. 23, 2002 television appearance on Israel’s Channel 2.

"Chemical and biological weapons which Saddam is endeavoring to conceal have been moved from Iraq to Syria,” Sharon said.

Together, their claims challenge the conventional wisdom in the United States and Europe that pre-war intelligence estimates were incorrect in suggesting the mass-murdering Iraqi dictator either possessed or was close to possessing WMDs.

Even President Bush has conceded the point, telling Americans in a televised address in December, "It is true that many nations believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. But much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong.”

Recent reports by Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard have similarly challenged the conventional wisdom on Saddam’s relationships with al-Qaida.

Hayes is calling for the release of approximately 2 million unclassified documents recovered in Iraq from the Hussein regime. He claims the documents could prove Saddam maintained significant contacts with al-Qaida.

Sada’s and Yaalon’s claims will be even more difficult, if not impossible, to prove, but several U.S. Senators will try to get to the bottom of the claims. Sada is scheduled to meet with Senators Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., next week. Both are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iraq; sada; saddam; syria; wmd; wmdsyria
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The truth of this needs to come out if any wide support is to be got for dealing with Iran's WMD
1 posted on 01/26/2006 9:20:55 AM PST by plenipotentiary
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To: plenipotentiary

When do you think the NYT will front page this story?


2 posted on 01/26/2006 9:21:36 AM PST by frankjr
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To: frankjr

Yeah, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.


3 posted on 01/26/2006 9:23:11 AM PST by yobid (What we have here is a failure to communicate)
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To: frankjr

When they can blame it on GWB.


4 posted on 01/26/2006 9:23:38 AM PST by Hypervigilant (Iran, you are next.)
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To: plenipotentiary
No news here.
Unless you're a dim-witted, in denial Dem.
5 posted on 01/26/2006 9:23:42 AM PST by grobdriver (Let the embeds check the bodies!)
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To: plenipotentiary
Iraq Official: Saddam Moved WMD to Syria, who in turn forwarded them to Iran......
6 posted on 01/26/2006 9:24:48 AM PST by b4its2late (Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.)
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To: grobdriver

We need to knock on Syria's door, with a nuke, then ask questions!


7 posted on 01/26/2006 9:24:55 AM PST by mmyers
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To: plenipotentiary

So let's go to Syria and get rid of these WMDs...

is this a dumb idea?


8 posted on 01/26/2006 9:26:34 AM PST by peacebaby (gotta go through the hurt to get over the hurt)
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To: plenipotentiary
They are detailed in his new book, "Saddam’s Secrets.”

This make his statements suspect in my mind.

9 posted on 01/26/2006 9:28:57 AM PST by oldleft
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To: plenipotentiary
The truth of this needs to come out if any wide support is to be got for dealing with Iran's WMD

I'd be very leery of an ex-Saddam ANYONE shopping a story around - we got burned believing some of his ex-scientists. Also, the MSM would be bleating about "how could our intelligence have missed that", and "why should we believe them now, blah blah blah...."

10 posted on 01/26/2006 9:29:33 AM PST by ziggygrey
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To: plenipotentiary

News Max.

What a load of crap.

Even if true, having newsmax run the story completely discredits the report. How many times havethey pulled out that Russian Colonel with the suitcase nuke story to get another new book sold on international terrorism?

If Sada is #2 in the Saddam era Iraqi air force, shouldn't he be in front of a war crimes tribunal? How many interceptors did he order to go up against the no fly zone coalition aircraft, how many missile batteries did he command at air force facilities?

Why would a man who should be in International or Iraqi custody be allowed to publish a book?


11 posted on 01/26/2006 9:30:27 AM PST by JerseyHighlander
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To: plenipotentiary

The title had me going, until the SnoozeMax link.


12 posted on 01/26/2006 9:32:30 AM PST by ARealMothersSonForever
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To: ziggygrey

The ONLY way anyone will believe Saddam had them is if Saddam admitted it and told us where they were. Even if they found a huge pile of Nukes buried...the MSM would say we planted it.


13 posted on 01/26/2006 9:32:49 AM PST by MadeInAmerica
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To: ARealMothersSonForever

it was in the New York Post also today


14 posted on 01/26/2006 9:33:23 AM PST by revivaljoe
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To: revivaljoe

Do you have a link?


15 posted on 01/26/2006 9:34:36 AM PST by ARealMothersSonForever
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To: plenipotentiary

Rush is talking about this as I type.


16 posted on 01/26/2006 9:35:04 AM PST by lormand (...the wrong person came out of the water that fateful night in Chappaquiddick)
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To: MadeInAmerica

Hey wait! I saw this guy being interviewed by Shaun Hannity last night on TV and heard what he said for myself! This guy was long-time General under Saddam and has the poop on this stuff - the fact that he's meeting with senators is VERY ENCOURAGING!


17 posted on 01/26/2006 9:35:22 AM PST by princess leah
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To: plenipotentiary
Plausible to me. This was eluded to during the UN speech that Colin Powell gave. It was brought up from time to time since (various forums), but it was suspected that trucks were used to move the "stuff" to Syria. My gut tells me the pentagon knows this and knows where too.
18 posted on 01/26/2006 9:35:52 AM PST by RLegacy (You say tomato, I say Yuck Fou)
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To: plenipotentiary

I always suspected that was what happened. Saddam had lots of time during the time we spent fiddling around with the UN and foreign "leaders," and Syria is a natural choice.


19 posted on 01/26/2006 9:35:59 AM PST by hsalaw
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To: lormand

http://www.nysun.com/article/26514p


20 posted on 01/26/2006 9:37:07 AM PST by revivaljoe
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