Posted on 02/05/2006 8:47:50 PM PST by SmithL
A former top Iraqi air force general said Saturday that Saddam Hussein smuggled biological and chemical weapons into Syria, using civilian airliners acting under cover of a humanitarian mission.
"About nuclear (weapons or material), I don't know," said Georges Sada, 65.
Sada's charges are contained in his book, "Saddam's Secrets," recently published by Integrity Media of Brentwood, Tenn. He has provided his information to members of Congress.
Today, Sada is heavily involved with World Compassion, a Christian humanitarian organization. He will speak at 6 p.m. today at New Covenant Fellowship Church, 6828 Central Avenue Pike. The event is open to the public.
Sada said that, because he was not a Muslim or a member of Saddam's political party, Saddam may have trusted him more as an independent adviser.
He said his information about weapons of mass destruction is based on what he was told by two Iraqi civilian airline captains who piloted 56 flights in airliners converted into cargo planes. He said the men talked to him in mid-2004, after Saddam was captured.
Sada said the pilots told him the planes were always loaded at night, under secrecy and heavy guard. Among other things, the pilots saw yellow barrels with skull-and-cross-bone markings, Sada said.
He said the flights attracted little attention because they blended in with a number of flights bringing aid to flood victims following the break of a dam in Syria.
Does Sada have any documentation or direct evidence to support the story of the two pilots?
"No, I don't," he answered without hesitation. "I have got nothing except what they told me."
Sada said he fully believes the two men, not because he knows them personally, but because of the way their story connects with some other events of which he is aware. He will not disclose their names but said they are "available" to be interviewed by intelligence officials.
Why did the two pilots provide their information to Sada?
"I've never thought about that," Sada said. He said it was probably because they wanted the information known, "and they knew I had good connections with Americans."
Sada said no one has subsidized the writing or publication of his book.
"I just want people to know the truth," he said.
Does Sada have any documentation or direct evidence to support the story of the two pilots?
"No, I don't," he answered without hesitation. "I have got nothing except what they told me."
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Yeah... we all know Arabs don't just make shit up or anything...
wow, I guess because he is saying it in a church, I'd probably believe him.
I can believe it! And, fron the decription of the barrels I am guessing this was Chemical Weapons Material and probably EMPTA.
Empta is one of the binary components to VX nerve gas. This stuff is so serious that during the Clinton administration a Sudanese pharmacutical plant was attacked with cruise missiles. In itself the material qualifies as a WMD.
I say it was probably a chemical weapon material because I doubt a biological weapon would require a drum or "keep" as well.
"No, I don't," he answered without hesitation. "I have got nothing except what they told me."
Must be true. The left hates it.
Among the tidbits from a Ken Anderson blog published on uruket.info ( Information from occupied Iraq )
In the previous post, I discussed the bias in blogging about the NY Sun's story about General Georges Sada claims that Saddam Hussein had shipped WMDs to Syria during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Sada's claims were, as pointed out, hearsay. The right wing seized the story, the left ignored it. . . .
First to be noted is the author of the NY Sun piece, Ira Stoll. Stoll is a known right wing crackpot who has championed the Iraq war since the beginning . . .
Sada is now closely linked with Terry Law's World Compassion organisation and is the president of the National Presbyterian Church in Baghdad and chairman of the Assembly of Iraqi Evangelical Presbyterian Churches. He was also tossed into to prison by Hussein, so he would conceivably have a bone to pick, despite vengence being reserved for the Lord.
But things get interesting when looking at the publisher of Sada's book, Saddam's Secrets. Integrity Publishers is a Christian imprint. One of the things that will strike oddly is how out of sorts Sada's book appears next to Pat Robertson's Miracles Can be Yours Today. . . .
Yes sir, that settles it for me. Sada's story must be true.
"Sada said the pilots told him the planes were always loaded at night..."
I would hope that we- the US- would have been keeping satelite watch on that whole area- and does anything on the surface of the earth escape that? I don't think so. We probably have a pretty good idea where these WMD's are, and don't want to help the general population of terrorists and other loonies- or Dems like Leaky Leahey, John Kerry, Joe Biden, et al!- to know just where these things are.
If I were Queen-of-the-World, I'd have let Bashir know that if any WMD's leave Syria, we'll make him regret it; just letting him know we know would help.
Or am I being naive and engaging in wishful thinking?
The bio/chem weapons were flown out on these rescue planes and stored in various safe facilities.
The Nuclear weapons were taken by truck convoy to Bekka Valley and stored in underground nuclearstrike resistant complexes.
We watched them move this convoy, and have sat photos of them and the facilities they took them to.
The Russian's were manning the convoy, and the Facilities in Syria were(are) the safest place for those weapons to be.
Out of the terrorists hands.
I read an article where the hostages in the previous Gulf War heralded Sada as the one who kept them alive. Sada was imprisoned himself for daring to go against Quday's wishes to kill the hostages. He was considered a threat to the regime and a traitor to Saddam. When asked what helped him to do this in the face of such danger he said, "Jesus". FWIW.
He is not Muslim.
"The Russian's were manning the convoy, and the Facilities in Syria were(are) the safest place for those weapons to be."
If you're not joking, then
1) The Ruskies were our cutout?!!!
2) "safe" because we can blast the entrances/exits? or b/c the Bekka is patroled- or why "safe"?
My limited understanding is that Hamas effectively controls Bashir, therefore, wouldn't they control the Bekka? That doesn't sound like a good scenario.
If this happened (I do not doubt your veracity) then why hasn't our government made this claim publicly? I don't get it.
Syria would be the worst place they could be. Fanciful story.
Then name a safer place, at the time we started the liberation of Iraq.
Both sides maintain tight surveillance. Very tight.
We attacked the convoy, but had to quit when the Rusky's cried to the UN that it was a 'diplomatic' mission. Therefore we had to back off.
I'll see if I can find the sat photos again. Most of the facilities 'we built'. Ain't that a kick in the head?
Here ya go.
http://www.2la.org/syria/wmd.html
Yes I'm quite well aware of Syria's ability to produce chemical weapons. Fanciful stories from journalists abound. Easy money as with the Iraqi commander promoting his book with stories surrounding events that were known about. He needs to name those transport pilots and come to the US to swear under oath.
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