Iraqi Scientist: Saddam's Regime Destroyed Chemical, Biological Weapons Until Right Before the War

AP ^ | Aprile 21, 2003

[new cruelty]

NEW YORK (AP) - An Iraqi scientist who claims to have worked in Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons program told a U.S. military team that Iraq destroyed and buried chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before the war began March 20, a newspaper reported Monday. Members of MET Alpha - the Mobile Exploitation Team set up to hunt for illegal weapons of mass destruction - said the scientist led Americans to material that proved to be the building blocks of illegal weapons, according to The New York Times.

The Iraqi scientist, who was not named for fear he might be harmed, also said Iraq has secretly sent stockpiles of deadly agents and weapons technology to Syria in the mid-1990s, and more recently was cooperating with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.

The U.S. Central Command could not confirm The New York Times report, and the White House had no immediate comment on it.

The report was withheld by military censors for three days, and some details about the chemicals were not allowed to be published. The reporter was not allowed to interview the Iraqi scientist.

The Bush administration says that U.S. forces went into Iraq and toppled Saddam's regime to rid the world of the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

Military officials said the scientist told them that several months before the war, he watched as Iraqi officials buried chemical precursors for weapons and other sensitive material to conceal and protect them for future use. Four days before President Bush gave Saddam an ultimatum in March, the scientist said Iraqi officials set fire to a warehouse where biological weapons research was conducted.

The scientist reportedly gave a note to the Army's 101st Airborne Division. That was passed on to the MET Alpha team, which tracked the scientist down at his home.

"What they have discovered could prove to be of incalculable value," the paper quoted Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, as saying.

"Though much work must still be done to validate the information MET Alpha has uncovered, if it proves out it will clearly be one of the major discoveries of this operation, and it may be the major discovery," he added.

[sarasota]

Thanks to the UN's fooling around for months/years, Iraq had plent of time to move the WMD's whenever and wherever.

[PoisedWoman]

Iraq destroyed and buried chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before the war began March 20,

But they were so sure that Hans the Inept would never find them, they waited to act until Bush had 100,000 guns trained on them. What will Blixie say now? That we jumped the gun? That he only needed a few more years of inspections?

[upchuck]

OK, all together on three:

One...

Two...

Three!!

Thank you Hans Blix, you POS!!!

[Grut]

There's always somebody who's eager to tell the new boss what the new boss wants to hear. Let's wait until we see some physical evidence, by which I do not mean evidence which 'might' mean something.

[BIGZ]

BURIED!

[steplock]

"... Until Right Before the War"

The wording is LEFTIST SLANTED! The choice of words in the headline leads the "scan" readers to believe that Saddam was destroying the weapons, but stopped BECAUSE OF the impending attack. Quite the opposite of the articles facts. The word "UNTIL" gives the feeling of an ongoing action stopping because of something else.

This happens easily in many news agencies when "headline writers" are not the ones who write the stories. This paper has a left-wing radical writting the headlines.

[doug from upland]

Knowing how the RATS like to parse words, they will say that Hussein was telling the truth --- they did not have these weapons. If they were sent to Syria, they did not have them. Sounds kind of like some lowlife's definition of sex.

[p. henry]

Why would they stop destroying weapons when the war started? Remember the report about the US water purification unit that found significant concentrations of mustard agent and one other suspect chemical in the Euphrates. To me, that was the discovery of chemical weapons, albeit ones that were being disposed of to prevent their discovery and capture. Has anyone heard anything about this report lately?

[Luis Gonzalez]

"Military officials said the scientist told them that several months before the war, he watched as Iraqi officials buried chemical precursors for weapons and other sensitive material to conceal and protect them for future use. Four days before President Bush gave Saddam an ultimatum in March, the scientist said Iraqi officials set fire to a warehouse where biological weapons research was conducted."

[AmericanInTokyo]

Save at least a little sarin for those shield-wankers...the one's that are left.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[aristeides]

I was wondering why the NY Times would have reported this. I think you've given a good explanation: it was to put the spin you suggest on the story.