IRAQ TRANSPORTS WMD TO SYRIAN, TURKISH BORDERS

Middle East Newsline ^ | 3/6/2003

[Jakenuts]

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Iraq is said to have transported chemical and biological weapons to the borders with Syria and Turkey.

U.S. officials said an Iraqi intelligence unit was spotted transporting the nonconventional weapons about six weeks ago from facilities in Baghdad to the Syrian and Turkish borders. They said the transfer of the weapons appeared to be part of an effort to conceal them from United Nations inspectors and spare them from any expected U.S. attack.

"We know that in late January, the Iraqi Intelligence Service transported chemical and biological agents to areas far away from Baghdad, near the Syrian and Turkish borders, in order to conceal them," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Wednesday. "And they have concealed them from the prying eyes of inspectors."

In an address to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Powell did not identify or say how many BW and CW weapons were transferred by Iraq. But Powell and other officials said Iraq is believed to have produced such agents as anthrax, VX and botulinum toxin.

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[Jakenuts]

Hope we have pictures.. make that video..

[pabianice]

I'm shocked! SHOCKED!

[N. Theknow]

But how can they transport something they don't have?

Gotta be powdered baby formula.

[gridlock]

Golly. If you can't trust Saddam, who can you trust?

[oceanview]

Why not take one of these trucks out with a missile from a predator? Wouldn't that have made sense? Its these kinds of things that make me question our strategy. Here we are jumping through hoops to "make a case", and we are supposedly tracking shipments of this stuff. Take one of them out, let's see Iraq explain a release of VX from one of these "shipments".

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[optimistically_conservative]

So what, Blix will just say that:

"The reported movement of munitions at the site could just as easily have been a routine activity as a movement of proscribed munitions in anticipation of imminent inspection."

[glorgau]

Why not take one of these trucks out with a missile from a predator?

If it were chemical weapons, it would leave a mess that would not easily be hidden. If it were biological, then it might not be containable.

[TADSLOS]

They'll be on the target video post strike highlights any night now...

[ravingnutter]

This is certainly not anything new...the info that Saddam was moving his WMD to Syria was reported on here awhile back...Sharon has been asserting this since Dec of last year...

U.S.:Syrians hiding Iraqi weapons for cash

Like I said then...if he did it was a stupid move...he still has not gotten his planes back from Iran after the last Gulf War, LOL!

Other links to reference:

Syria - Terror/Iraqi Ally

Iraq, Syria Tighten Strategic Cooperation

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I wonder if we have any tape of Iraq smuggling these WMD across the border, into Syria? I wouldn't put it past Saddam, and I don't trust the Syrians, either.