>>Iraq chemical weapons too old to use: US intelligence officials
by Jim Mannion 51 minutes ago
The chemical weapons that have been recovered by US forces in Iraq were all made before the 1991 Gulf War and were too degraded for their intended use, US intelligence officials said.
Republican lawmakers have cast the disclosure that about 500 chemical weapons have been found in Iraq as evidence that Saddam Hussein had a stockpile of the weapons before the March 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
But the intelligence officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said the weapons were too degraded to have posed a threat to US forces in March 2003.
They said all chemical weapons found since 2003 were produced before the 1991 Gulf War and they had no evidence Saddam was producing or stockpiling chemical weapons after that.
"Generally they are in poor condition," one official said.
"We assess that they are not in condition to be used as designed. And detailed analysis of the toxic agents shows they are degraded and represent a much lower hazard," he said.
The munitions have been tested and computer simulation models created to determine what effect they might have under a variety of scenarios, the officials said.
Although not suitable for their intended purposed, the officials said such weapons remain a potential hazard if obtained by insurgents and modified in ways they would not discuss.
The officials, however, said they had no evidence that any element of the Iraqi insurgency has possession of chemical weapons.
"I would simply say we have seen a degree of improvisation on the part of the insurgency with regard to conventional munitions," said an official.
"They might apply that same degree of improvisation if in fact they came in contact with these types of munitions. And again we have no evidence that they have," the official said.
The weapons were found "in small numbers over time" since 2003, an official said. They were recovered in one, two or three at a time -- not in large caches, the officials said.
"We would characterize these recovered munitions as being consistent with weapons that have been not maintained, that have not been part of an organized inventory," he said.
Senator Rick Santorum and Representative Peter Hoekstra (news, bio, voting record), both Republicans, on Wednesday made public information from a classified report prepared in April on the subject by the National Ground Intelligence Center that said 500 chemical weapons have been recovered.
The intelligence officials said "key points" from the report were declassified at the request of Hoekstra, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee.
The "key points," however, ommitted the fact that the 500 weapons all were of a pre-1991 vintage. The officials indicated that the age of the weapons was not considered classified but were unable to explain why it was not included in the key points given to the Senators.
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