-Caveat Lector- Butler blames death of UNSCOM on Russia, China and France Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Associated Press By EDITH M. LEDERER UNITED NATIONS (August 3, 1999 8:50 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Former chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler accused Russia, China and France on Tuesday of deliberately lying about some VX nerve agent left in a U.N. laboratory in Baghdad in order to finally "kill" the U.N. Special Commission. "To me, it was a bit like one of those scenes in a B-Grade movie where someone shoots someone. They're obviously dead, but they go on and empty the further five bullets into their body," Butler said in an Associated Press Television News interview. France, China and Russia - Iraq's closest allies on the Security Council - knew that tiny samples of VX and other chemical agents in the laboratory were used to test Iraqi material and that the quantities were so minuscule they posed no danger, he said. "Sadly, I think what was going on was their attempt to absolutely, finally kill UNSCOM," he said. "They wanted ... to demonstrate that UNSCOM was an evil organization that misled the council." In an article in the debut issue of Talk magazine and the subsequent APTN interview, Butler spoke out for the first time since he stepped down as UNSCOM's executive director on June 30. He delivered the same message in both interviews: UNSCOM told the truth and was destroyed by Iraq's Security Council allies, especially Russia, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's "misguided decisions," and former weapons inspector Scott Ritter's false allegations that the CIA was somehow directing the organization's activities. The result, he said, is that there have been no arms inspections in Iraq for 12 months and the country could be trying to make nuclear, biological and chemical weapons again because Saddam Hussein is "addicted" to weapons of mass destruction. Butler used the VX controversy to illustrate how he believes Iraq's council allies and the secretary-general tried to finally destroy UNSCOM. The VX test samples and other chemical warfare agents were left in the laboratory when Butler ordered UNSCOM inspectors to leave Baghdad in mid-December on the eve of U.S. and British airstrikes. Iraq has banned UNSCOM from returning. Even though France, China and Russia knew the test standards were harmless, he said they urged the Security Council to have the samples analyzed, intimating that UNSCOM inspectors may have laced Iraqi warheads with the agent. Butler said Annan and his senior staff participated in the "falsehood" that the VX was deadly - and agreed to Iraq's demand that UNSCOM experts be banned from the team sent to Baghdad to investigate the laboratory, "which set a terrible precedent for the future." Butler accused the secretary-general of trying to destroy UNSCOM because it was "too independent," and of trying to paper over Iraq's cheating on its disarmament obligations with diplomacy. "You may get a short-term diplomatic solution but the real problem - the weapons - will still be there, and they will come back to bite us in the future," Butler said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Wingate California Director SKYWATCH INTERNATIONAL Anomalous Images and UFO Files http://www.anomalous-images.com DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
