IRAQ NEWS, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16,
2003
The CSIS website carries notes by
Anthony Cordesman from a recent trip to Iraq. Those covering an
interview with David Kay on Iraq's weapons programs (pps 6 & 7, lower
left #'s ) are at:
The notes underline the importance
to Saddam of Iraq's biological weapons program: "Situation is complicated by
shift of bio program from Al Hakim to Tuwaitha in 96 [ie after Hussein Kamil
defected], which fooled the UN because Tuwaitha was seen as a nuclear site at
[sic] looked at by IAEA and not UNSCOM."
Is Kay suggesting that his group
has found significant aspects of Iraq's BW program that were unknown to UNSCOM,
so well was this program hidden?
Regarding the nuclear progran, "Kay
said people still misunderstand the aluminum tube issue. Never able to track
overall progress in centrifuge design after 1991. Knew Iraq used aluminum tubes
for rockets, but Iraq steadily upgraded specifications after 1999 for tubes that
were never delivered but could be used for centrifuges. Said government that
opposed war (Germany or France) blocked the shipment and warned US could be used
for centrifuges."
The Sunday Times (UK), today, carries a
story, "Spies close in on Saddam's ailing terror mastermind," by Richard
Miniter. It includes more information on Iraq's BW program:
" Two top Iraqi
scientists, codenamed Charlie and Alpha, are helping the coalition to learn more
about Iraq's anthrax programme, Kay said. The Iraqis had made shocking
innovations in the milling and drying processes needed to weaponise anthrax.
'Almost every week there is a new discovery that boggles your mind,' Kay
said."
