[Yes, you read the title correctly...] Reuters. 20 August 2002. U.S. Mulls Attack on Weapons Site in Iraq - Reports.
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has discussed a possible covert attack on a suspected chemical weapons operation believed to be run by members of al Qaeda in northern Iraq, U.S. television networks reported on Monday. ABC News and CNN said the chemical weapons program was being run under the protection of the radical Kurdish group Ansar al Islam in a part of Iraq which President Saddam Hussein does not control. "The CIA and the Pentagon began planning a covert operation into northern Iraq to destroy what appeared to be a budding chemical weapons laboratory several years ago, but late last week, the president called it off," ABC said. CNN reported no final decision had been made on whether to act against the chemical weapons operation. The White House declined comment on the reports. The ABC report said the United States had been monitoring a small group of al Qaeda operatives for weeks as they experimented with poison gas and deadly toxins, killing barnyard animals and at least one human. However, officials concluded the operation was so small and crude that in the final analysis it was not worth risking American lives to go after it and not worth the outcry that might follow any U.S. operation inside Iraq, ABC said. The network quoted U.S. officials as saying there was no evidence Saddam's government had any knowledge of the al Qaeda activities. Separately, CNN has broadcast videotapes obtained in Afghanistan which appear to show suspected al Qaeda members testing chemical weapons on dogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://www.utopia2000.org The NEW ProletarianNews ################################################################# ################################################################# ################################################################# ##### ##### ##### ################################################################# ################################################################# ################################################################# _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
