IRAQ REBUILDS SITES THAT MAKE NERVE-GAS INGREDIENTS

New York Post ^ | 8/19/02 | NILES LATHEM

[kattracks]

Satellite pix show that three chemical facilities in Iraq - Fullujah I, II and III - wrecked in the 1991 Gulf War are back in business.

August 19, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - These mysterious chemical factories northwest of Baghdad are a major reason the Bush administration thinks war with Iraq is inevitable.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

               Iraqi Military Industry

Entity	Location	Products
Al-Badr	al Yusufiyah	Aerial bombs, artillery pieces, and machine tool bits
Al Hiteen	Al Iskandariyah	Explosives, TNT, propellants, and vehicles
Al Naiman	Oqba	Cluster bombs
Al Qaqaa		Aerial bombs, TNT, and solid rocket propellants
April 7 (Narawan Fuse) Factory		Proximity fuses for 155 mm and cluster munitions
Base West World	Samawa	Major armor refitting center
Diglia	Zaafarniyah	Software, controllers, and plastic castings
Fallujah	Al Muthanna	HMX and RDX explosives
Mansour	Baghdad	Defense electronics
PCI		Ethylene oxide for fuel-air explosives
Sa'ad 5 (Sa'ad Engineering Complex		122mm howitzers, Ababil rockets, tank optics and mortar sights
Sa'ad 13	Salah al Din - Ad Dawr	Defense electronics, radars, and frequency-hopping radios
Sa'ad 21	Mosul	Non-ferrous ammunition cases
Sa'ad 24	Mosul	Gas masks
Sa'ad 38	Fao	Aircraft assembly and manufacturing [under construction]
Sawary	Basra	Small naval boats
SEHEE heavy engineering complex	Al Dura	Artillery, vehicle parts, and cannon barrels
U/I	Al Amil	Liquid nitrogen production
U/I	Al Rabiyah	Precision machining
U/I	Al Taji	Wheeled APCs [East European license], armor, and artillery
U/I	Al-Amen	Tank assembly plant [under Polish and Czech licenses]
U/I	Fao	Cluster bombs and fuel-air explosives

 

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

nuke them till they glow

They can kiss my American "fullujah"!

:)

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..and for the last four years, no one knows what kind of witches' brews are being concocted at the Fullujah facilities...

If 'no one knows', why is the Post declaring "IRAQ REBUILDS SITES THAT MAKE NERVE-GAS INGREDIENTS"?

I wish some of the lying journalists in their newsroom were to be leading a platoon, through the snipers of downtown Baghdad, during the war they're working so hard to promote.

[meenie]

Surely there are intelligence operatives in Iraq that know what is produced at these sites. Why haven't they been the target of attacks by our planes that overfly Iraq constantly?

[eno_]

Because we are not (yet) in the business of bombing Iraqi cities.

[dennisw]

Key parts must be underground. Still, or bunker busters and earth-penetrator bombs can render them inoperable. And bury alive thier techs and scientests

[Jackie222]

Surely there are intelligence operatives in Iraq that know what is produced at these sites.

baby aspirin....

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..surely there are intelligence operatives in Iraq that know what is produced at these sites...

You're right, Meenie.

It's the most spied upon place on earth, with a mass of intelligence available from deserters, prisoners, satellites, overflights, SIGINT, you name it. This Administration (or any other) could have taken out Saddam at will. But with the economy tanking, Mr Bush is counting on the Iraqi campaign to keep his poll figures in the green zone. It's a high-risk strategy which I think will be a disaster for his presidency, with the only winners being the Dems, the Euro-Left, and China.

[Victor]

"....nuke them till they glow...."

They may very well have to be nuked, no matter what they naysayers do or say.

If we bomb with conventional bombs, this stuff will spread out and go to God knows where. Nuking it, however, would alter it substantially. The heat and power of a nuke would have the best chance of destroying Sarin (or whatever), IMHO.

[fivecatsandadog]

U.S. military and intelligence officials say there is similar activity taking place at scores of other suspected chemical and biological weapons facilities throughout Iraq.

Well, how about that. Not that I sympathize with So Damn Insane or agree with his choice of weapons, but what the heck do you expect him to do - sit back and do nothing while the world holds a debate about tossing him out?

[ohioman]

Why in the hell are you so afraid of fighting Iraq?

[ohioman]

That is baloney. To think that the only reason the President wants to go after Iraq is to boost his poll numbers is beyond ludicrous. What are you going to tell us next...that 9/11 was a terrible plot of the Jews and the CIA.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..why in the hell are you so afraid of fighting Iraq?..

Lots of reasons.

*I don't want to see Mr Bush hand the Left the issue they've been waiting to coalesce around;

*I don't want to see America throw away its traditional position of being on the side of what's right, just, and good, in this cynical fashion;

*I don't want the US to become an international pariah, and;

*I don't think Iraq is worth one dead American, Brit, or Aussie boy.

[Bill Davis FR]

WHY ARE WE WAITING? BOMBS AWAY....

[mikhailovich]

You will if Iraq is left alone.

[Demidog]

In 1994, Iraq sought permission from U.N. inspectors to get the plants up and running again, promising that only nonlethal civilian-use chemical agents would be produced at the plants.

Hmmm. Somebody's lying and I believe Saadam before I believe Bush frankly.....

[GVnana]

I haven't checked a map, but I assume it's obviously outside of the no-fly zones.

[GVnana]

what the heck do you expect him to do - sit back and do nothing while the world holds a debate about tossing him out?

What do we expect of him? He's been given every opportunity to join the civilized world--even the UN condemns him. So why the sympathy for this bad actor?

If he showed clean hands, the world would leave him alone. He's making his own fate everyday. Wouldn't be a problem except that he's got the ability to take so many with him.