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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (45621)	9/20/2002 12:58:26 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

From the State Department website: A Decade of Deception: whitehouse.gov Timeline: Saddam's Deception and Defiance: usinfo.state.gov Iraq: Crimes Against Humanity: usinfo.state.gov Saddam Hussein's Iraq (prepared 1999, under Clinton) (includes war crimes, etc.): usinfo.state.gov Gallery of life in Northern Iraq (under US and UN protection): usinfo.state.gov Official says Iraq lacks only fissile material before it attains nuclear capability: usinfo.state.gov

To: JohnM who wrote (45621)	9/20/2002 12:58:55 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

>>Official Says Iraq Lacks Only Fissile Material for Nuclear Weapons Defense Department Report, September 13 A senior Defense Department official says Iraq could produce a nuclear weapon within a year if the Iraqis acquire fissile material and decide "that's what they're going to do with it." The official told reporters at the Pentagon September 13 that Iraq has not lost any of its technical expertise or documentation since the Persian Gulf war more than a decade ago. If the Iraqis acquire the requisite material tomorrow then, he said, "it's a question of …just how quickly" they can fabricate and assemble nuclear weapons. "We're measuring, probably, in the order of less than a year to put these kind of things together," he added. The official said that the Iraqis recently tested ballistic missile components, and flight-tested ballistic missiles that exceed the 150-kilometer range to which they are limited by UN Security Council Resolution 687. While that resolution addressed the issue of a missile's range, he noted, it did not address the issue of missile payload. He went on to explain that "you can take a very powerful rocket, load it down with a lot of weight, and it will only go 150 kilometers. But, if you take the weight off, it will fly a lot farther. And so the suspicion is that that's exactly what the Iraqis are up to." He expressed the view that Iraq has retained the infrastructure and expertise needed to develop and produce systems with ranges in excess of 150 kilometers and that "with outside assistance" the Iraqis "could fly a domestically developed medium-range ballistic missile…out to 1,500 kilometers by the middle of the decade." The official, who declined to be identified by name, made his comments as part of an unclassified briefing about the connections between states that sponsor terrorism and terrorist networks that seek weapons of mass destruction. Secret and top secret versions of the briefing were provided earlier to members of NATO, former secretaries of defense, and select members of Congress. A day before the media briefing, the White House released a background report on Iraq which said the Iraqis had tried to buy, in the past 14 months, thousands of aluminum tubes which could be used as components of centrifuges to enrich the uranium needed to produce nuclear weapons. The White House report also said Iraq "continues its attempts to procure mobile biological weapons (BW) laboratories that could be used for further research and development." The senior defense official said UN weapons inspectors knew "Iraq was pursuing mobile fermentation, but the inspections never found them." As background to his presentation he showed a slide, as an example, of how a mobile BW lab could be concealed inside tractor-trailer trucks. A BW lab requires very little space and could be set up within a small room, he said. A small number of trucks would be "sufficient to have a capability for producing biological weapons agents," he added. << usinfo.state.gov

To: JohnM who wrote (45621)	9/20/2002 1:34:04 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I've marked your post, John, and hope to reply more when time. In the meantime, here's a Feb 1998 BBC link you might find interesting... Wednesday, February 4, 1998 Published at 16:17 GMT news.bbc.co.uk World Cook says Saddam is lying over 'terror arsenal' Robin Cook: "If Saddam is wise he will respond." The British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, has accused the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of lying about chemical and biological weapons. Mr Cook warned him not to doubt Britain's determination to ensure he gives them up. "Saddam would be making a big mistake if he underestimated our resolve to make sure he does not keep chemical or biological weapons," he said in London on Wednesday. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook tells Saddam Britain will not back down(0'20") "If he is wise he will respond to the diplomatic initiatives for a solution while he still has time to do so. "Our quarrel is with Saddam and with his continuing attempts to build an arsenal of terror. It is vital that he be stopped." Mr Cook made his remarks in London before leaving for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for talks on the escalating crisis. The support of both countries will be essential to the US and Britain in the event of military action against Iraq. Secret weapons Mr Cook said Iraq had seriously underreported its war arsenal. He said Iraq had 8,400 litres of anthrax rather than 650 litres as first declared and insisted it had also admitted to producing 4 tonnes of lethal VX nerve gas and could not account for chemicals capable of producing another 200 tonnes. He said Britain favoured a "peaceful solution" and did not want to use force, but it would not allow Saddam "to continue to obstruct" the weapons inspection teams. The teams' work, Mr Cook added, was crucial as was the "guarantee that Saddam will not amass a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction". "It is a tale of repeated deception. If Saddam Hussein gets his hands on the weapons he has been trying so hard to produce, his neighbours in the Gulf could never be secure. "Underlying Britain's approach to the present crisis is our concern for Gulf security and our wish to ensure that Saddam Hussein never threatens it again." His visit to the Middle East comes a day after the US Secretary of State Madeline Albright ended her tour of the region. But she failed to win more than token backing for renewed military action against Saddam Hussein. US efforts appear to be focusing not so much on avoiding a military attack but on generating international support for it. Bahrain only gave qualified backing while Saudi Arabia has refused to allow US airstrikes to be launched from its territories. Madeleine Albright claims Middle East support Although the Arab world appears hesitant in its support for America, the Secretary of State says it is enough. Speaking at the end of her six-day Middle Eastern tour, Mrs Albright said: "I have had, I think, very positive support. We believe that we will have all the co-operation we need across the board." Diplomacy efforts continue Of the big UN powers, the US has unequivocal support for military action only from Britain. China is opposed to the use of any sort of force. And both France and Russia have peace envoys discussing proposals in Baghdad. Meanwhile the British Foreign Office says Britain is continuing to work on a fresh UN Security Council Resolution to present to Iraq. The objective is to increase the political and diplomatic pressure on Saddam Hussein. While refusing to confirm the wording of the document, a spokesman said it would give the Iraqi leader a final chance to pull back. The office says some negotiation would be needed with Russia over the resolution, but France was in favour of the idea "in principle".