[R-G] Ships said to unload old WMD for "discovery" in Iraq

[Fred Feldman]

Planting weapons of mass destruction in Iraq seems like a high risk
proposition for the administration at this late date.  I took it for
granted they were doing this DURING the war, and was surprised that they
hadn't.  But I am publicizing this Tehran (Iran) Times story just to
help make sure that the risk factor remains very high.
Fred Feldman



<http://www.tehrantimes.com/Detailview.asp?Keyword=WMD&Da=3/13/2004&Cat=
4&Num=11>

Saturday, March 13, 2004

U.S. Unloading WMD in Iraq 

TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) Over the past few days, in the wake 
of the bombings in Karbala and the ideological disputes that delayed 
the signing of Iraqs interim constitution, there have been reports that 
U.S. forces have unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing 
long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the 
southern ports of Iraq. 

A reliable source from the Iraqi Governing Council, speaking on 
condition of anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that U.S. forces, 
with the help of British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made 
extensive efforts to conceal their actions. 

He added that the cargo was unloaded during the night as attention 
was still focused on the aftermath of the deadly bombings in Karbala 
and the signing of Iraqs interim constitution. 

The source said that in order to avoid suspicion, ordinary cargo ships 
were used to download the cargo, which consisted of weapons 
produced in the 1980s and 1990s. 

He mentioned the fact that the United States had facilitated Iraqs 
WMD program during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq and said that some 
of the weapons being downloaded are similar to those weapons, 
although international inspectors had announced Saddam Husseins 
Baath regime had destroyed all its WMD. 

The source went on to say that the rest of the weapons were 
probably transferred in vans to an unknown location somewhere in 
the vicinity of Basra overnight. 

Most of these weapons are of Eastern European origin and some 
parts are from the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The 
U.S. obtained them through confiscations during sales of banned 
arms over the past two decades, he said. 

This action comes as certain U.S. and Western officials have been 
pointing out the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been 
discovered in Iraq and the issue of Saddams trial begins to take 
center stage. 

In addition, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has 
emphasized that the U.S. and British intelligence agencies issued 
false reports on Iraq leading to the U.S. attack. 

Meanwhile, the suspicious death of weapons inspector David Kelly 
is also an unresolved issue in Britain. 


Occupation Forces Official Claims to Have No Information About 
Transfer of WMD to Iraq 

A security official for the coalition forces in Iraq said that he has
not 
received any information about the unloading of weapons of mass 
destruction in ports in southern Iraq. 

Shane Wolf told the Mehr News Agency that the occupation forces 
have received no reports on such events, but said he hoped that the 
coalition forces would find the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction 
one day. 

Coalition forces and inspectors have so far been unable to find any 
Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. invaded Iraq under the 
pretext that Iraq possessed a stockpile of weapons of mass 
destruction.
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