Posted on 07/21/2004 11:04:20 AM PDT by HAL9000
Baghdad, Iraq, Jul. 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. military official Wednesday denied a report of Iraqi missiles carrying nuclear warheads being found in a concrete trench northwest of Baghdad.
The daily al-Sabah newspaper Wednesday had quoted sources as saying three missiles armed with nuclear warheads were discovered in a trench near the city of Tikrit, the hometown of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
A U.S. military spokesman in Tikrit told United Press International that the report was untrue.
"Nothing's been found. The report is not factual," said Master Sgt. Robert Cowens, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, based in Tikrit.
The newspaper reported the three missiles were discovered by chance when Iraqi security forces captured former Baath party official Khoder al-Douri who revealed during interrogation the location of the missiles saying they carried nuclear warheads.
Al-Sabah said that the missiles were discovered in a trench under six meters of concrete, designed to evade sophisticated sensors.
A spokesman with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office told UPI that the report concerning the alleged missiles and warheads emerged "while gathering information for Saddam Hussein's tribunal" during the interrogation of a captured former official of Saddam's regime.
Copyright 2004 United Press International
I knew it was too good to be true.
yep glad this one did not get traction..
OK, shows over.
Nothing to see here.
Move along, move along.
(Phew! That was close! Info actually ogt out!)
OK, shows over.
Nothing to see here.
Move along, move along.
(Phew! That was close! Info actually got out!)
Just wondering - how does a story like this [the original report alleging three nukes]come about? Deliberate fabrication? Misidentification of conventional warheads? Garbled communications? Did "Go down to the cafe and order me some falafel and mint tea" become garbled as "There are three nukes in a bunker near Tikrit." How does this happen?
Ask Jayson Blair.
Many times the original story *IS* the truth - the denials are for civilian "terror control"
Befire this started, I told many people that even though we know exactly what is over there, the USA will never admit what it finds. If ours - due to embarassment, if others - we can use the info for blackmail or other leverage.
Either way, if the general population knew of all the really nasty stuff that the wold has, we would probably have riots and anarchy due to their ignorance.
No it isn't. Basically 100% of the time the original story is nonsense.
<..snip..>
"A spokesman with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office told UPI that the report concerning the alleged missiles and warheads emerged "while gathering information for Saddam Hussein's tribunal" during the interrogation of a captured former official of Saddam's regime."
Can we assume that the report emerged from Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's office to begin with? It isn't all that clear here.
Regardless, I think the denial should have been made by someone higher up in the chain of command. This is not small potatoes.
""Nothing's been found. The report is not factual," said Master Sgt. Robert Cowens, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, based in Tikrit."
With all due respect for Master Sgt. Cowens,
1. Is he the official spokesman? or, just the first American the reporter could find?
2. What question was he answering?
In less than 8 hours, the report has been totally discredited by the media.
I'm not gullible, but I don't believe anything from the media until they come up with documents or comments from a higher authority.
Really? You swallowed a story from an Arab newspaper that's only weeks old and based solely on "anonymous political sources" hook, line, and sinker.
If nobody in Iraq from the Coalition had denied the story till tomorrow, people would have found that unusual and suspicious.
If the commanding General of the Coalition had denied the story himself in a press conference, people would have found THAT unusual and suspicious.
That doesn't mean he couldn't have gotten them from somewhere else, but it isn't the sort of item you find laying around on the road. Normally. Maybe I better go check my ammo trunk to see if anything's missing...
Somebody went to a lot of trouble and effort just to hide three missiles.
Concrete is cheap - especially in Iraq.
"AF is low on Water."
No, the question is "What is Joe Wilson doing in Iraq?"
"You swallowed a story from an Arab newspaper that's only weeks old "
Check your facts, the report was made 7/21/2004 and it was only posted in english this morning.
"hook, line, and sinker"
Not true, but if it were, improbably, to turn out to be factual, it would be a very important news story. So not only do I take the original story with a grain of salt, but also the too-quick rebuttals.
BTW, Al-Sabah has scooped western news sources several times, AND they just happen to be a bit closer to the action than either you or I.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.