The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service
http://www.newscientist.com/
Lead Iraq weapons seeker 'to quit'
17:02 19 December 03
NewScientist.com news service
The man leading the US hunt for biological, chemical and nuclear
weapons in Iraq is to resign, according to reports. The loss of David
Kay is being interpreted by many analysts as signalling the end of the
major effort to discover any hidden weapons.
A number of observers now believe it is unlikely that any
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) existed. However, officials from the
US administration maintain that if Kay does leave, it would have no
impact on the ongoing work of the Iraq Study Group he heads.
According to The Washington Post, Kay has told administration
officials that he plans to leave before the completion of the ISG's
final report, expected in autumn 2004. He may even leave before the
next interim report in February.
Kay has cited personal reasons for resigning, the paper says.
But in recent weeks he has softened his line on the probability of
finding banned WMD. He is said to be frustrated that some of the ISG's
1400 staff were reallocated to counter-insurgency duties in Iraq in
October.
Paul Rogers, at the Department of Peace Studies at Bradford
University, UK, thinks Kay's planned departure is significant: "My
reading is that it's a serious part of downgrading the whole
procedure. I think it's highly unlikely that anything will be found."
Shifting stance
Iraq's possession of banned WMD was one of the major
justifications used by the US and UK for invading Iraq in March. The
failure to find them is a political embarrassment to both governments.
Rogers believes the Bush administration is shifting its stance,
and no longer sees finding the WMD as a priority. Instead, he says,
officials are focusing on the atrocities carried out by Saddam Hussein
as the key reason for going to war.
"They've made a transition with the truth and my guess is
they're pretty well convinced there's nothing serious to be found," he
told New Scientist. "While that may be totally different to what we
were told eight months ago, that is the new line."
During a recent interview with ABC News, President George Bush
dismissed questions about the failure of the ongoing search. "What
difference does it make? If [Saddam Hussein] were to acquire weapons,
he would be the danger."
Soil samples
Before the war in Iraq, UN inspectors had been unable to find
any biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.
Since the end of the conflict, ISG staff have taken soil
samples, inspected hundreds of factories and laboratories and
interviewed many Iraqi scientists in their hunt for the weapons, but
found almost nothing.
ISG "mobile exploitation teams" are armed with an array of
scientific equipment including Chemical Agent Monitors, designed to
quickly find chemical weapons, Portable Isotopic Neutron Spectroscopes
for identifying radioactive materials in sealed containers and a
handheld instrument that can spot the DNA of biological weapons.
Only a single vial of botulinum toxin, an extremely
poisonous substance, has been found, in the house of an Iraqi
scientist.
Will Knight
<<attachment: dots400.gif>>
