[Peace-discuss] WMD's soon to be "discovered" in Iraq?

[Phil Stinard]

New Reports on U.S. Planting WMDs in Iraq
By News Report
Apr 13, 2004, 12:10


BASRA, April 12 (MNA) -– Fifty days after the first reports that the U.S. 
forces were unloading weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in southern Iraq, 
new reports about the movement of these weapons have been disclosed.


Sources in Iraq speculate that occupation forces are using the recent unrest 
in Iraq to divert attention from their surreptitious shipments of WMD into 
the country.


An Iraqi source close to the Basra Governor’s Office told the MNA that new 
information shows that a large part of the WMD, which was secretly brought 
to southern and western Iraq over the past month, are in containers falsely 
labeled as containers of the Maeresk shipping company and some consignments 
bearing the labels of organizations such as the Red Cross or the USAID in 
order to disguise them as relief shipments.


The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Iraqi officials 
including forces loyal to the Iraqi Governing Council stationed in southern 
Iraq have been forbidden from inspecting or supervising the transportation 
of these consignments. He went on to say that the occupation forces have 
ordered Iraqi officials to forward any questions on the issue to the 
coalition forces. Even the officials of the international relief 
organizations have informed the Iraqi officials that they would only accept 
responsibility for relief shipments which have been registered and managed 
by their organizations.


The Iraqi source also confirmed the report about suspicious trucks with fake 
Saudi and Jordanian license plates entering Iraq at night last week, 
stressing that the Saudi and Jordanian border guards did not attempt to 
inspect the trucks but simply delivered them to the U.S. and British forces 
stationed on Iraq’s borders.


However, the source expressed ignorance whether the governments of Saudi 
Arabia and Jordan were aware of such movements.


A professor of physics at Baghdad University also told the MNA correspondent 
that a group of his colleagues who are highly specialized in military, 
chemical and biological fields have been either bribed or threatened during 
the last weeks to provide written information on what they know about 
various programs and research centers and the possible storage of WMD 
equipment.


The professor also said these people have been openly asked to confirm or 
deny the existence of research or related WMD equipment. A large number of 
these scientists, who are believed to be under the surveillance of U.S. 
intelligence operatives, have claimed that if they refuse to comply with 
this request, they may be killed or arrested on charges of concealing the 
truth if these weapons are found by the Bush administration in the future.


He said that the Iraqi scientists believe their lives would be in danger if 
they decline to cooperate with the occupation forces, especially when they 
recall that senior U.S. officer Michael Peterson once said, “Iraqi 
scientists are at any case a threat to the U.S. administration, whether they 
talk or not.”


A source close to the Iraqi Governing Council said, “In the meantime, many 
suspect containers disguised as fuel supplies have been moved about by some 
units of the U.S. special forces. The move has been carried out under heavy 
security measures. Also, there are unofficial reports that the containers 
held biological and bacteriological toxins in liquid form. It is possible 
that the news about the discovery of the WMDs would be announced later.”


He also said that such mixtures had been used by the Saddam regime in the 
1990s.


The source added that some provocative actions such as the closure of 
Al-Hawza periodical by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer, the secret meetings 
between his envoys with some extremist groups who have no relations with the 
Iraqi Governing Council, the sudden upsurge in violence in central and 
southern Iraq, a number of activities which have stoked up the wrath of the 
prominent Shia clerics, and finally, the spate of kidnappings and the 
baseless charges against the Iranian charge d’affaires in Baghdad are 
providing the necessary smokescreen for the transportation of the WMD to 
their intended locations.


He said they are quite aware that the White House in cooperation with the 
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has directly tasked the Defense Department 
to hide these weapons. Given the recent scandals to the effect that the U.S. 
president was privy to the 9/11 plot, they might try to immediately announce 
the discovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in order to overshadow 
the scandals and prevent a further decline of Bush’s public opinion rating 
as the election approaches.


http://www.mehrnews.com/wfNewsDetails_en.aspx?NewsID=70071&t=Political

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