Myth 3 The chemical weapons factory that wasn't
The news story that politicians and media alike have been waiting for broke late on Sunday evening: the apparent discovery of an Iraqi chemical weapons factory and, with it, vindication of the coalition assault on Saddam Hussein.
The story came from a correspondent from the Jerusalem Post who was travelling with the US 3rd Infantry. The plant, the paper said, had been discovered by American troops at Najaf. US television network Fox immediately began running the story, which also quoted Pentagon officials.
On Monday, much of the British press treated the discovery with some caution. Part of the scepticism stemmed from the fact that one of the board members of the Jerusalem Post is Richard Perle, the Bush defence adviser and most vocal backer of the invasion of Iraq.
The Guardian gave the claims of a chemical factory find a short story on the front page, and warned that Pentagon officials had been unable to confirm the story. The London Evening Standard gave the claims lots of space but also enveloped them in health warnings, pointing out that the story had originated from unconfirmed reports.
Its sister paper, the Daily Mail, was not so circumspect. Under the headline "Allied troops storm massive chemical weapons factory", it reported the discovery as fact, quoting Pentagon sources describing the installation as "very well-disguised". Within 24 hours, General Tommy Franks, commander of the US-led forces, was cautioning that most claims about weapons of mass destruction finds were "based on speculation". Former weapons inspectors also dismissed the reports. |
