California Conservative

Bottom Line Up Front:  Today’s U.N.’s WMD snafu is a reminder of the unusual change in U.N. reporting regarding Saddam’s WMD program.

New proof has emerged that Saddam had no WMD ambitions! Okay, that was sarcastic, but it is pretty ironic that dangerous chemical weapons taken at an Iraqi chemical weapons plant in 1996 by weapons inspectors were found in an office in the United Nations in New York City today.

Why ironic? As late as 2004 the U.N. weapons inspectors officially reported that Iraq had no WMD after 1994.  The chemicals found at the U.N. today are from 1996 and are the kind used as lethal weapons during World War I.

Even more ironic is that 1996, the year these chemicals were taken from Iraq and stored in the U.N. as souvenirs, the infamous Oil for Food programme was begun by the U.N.

So a year after Operation Iraqi Freedom had begun, a war which U.N. WMD inspectors resisted, they reported there were no WMD after 1994 knowing WMD were found in Baghdad in 1996. Enter Oil for Food. Hmmmmm….

David Kay, top U.S. weapons inspector who headed the Iraq Survey Group, addressed a Congressional committee in October 2003, saying:

-Some WMD personnel crossed borders in the pre/trans conflict period and may have taken evidence and even weapons-related materials with them.

-Any actual WMD weapons or material is likely to be small in relation to the total conventional armaments footprint and difficult to near impossible to identify with normal search procedures. It is important to keep in mind that even the bulkiest materials we are searching for, in the quantities we would expect to find, can be concealed in spaces not much larger than a two car garage.

In their final report, David Kay and the Iraq Survey Group Final Report (Global Security) announced:

On Feb. 14, 2003:

“Saddam issues directive banning private companies and individuals from importing WMD materials or producing WMD.”

That was weeks before the start of the invasion.  Even John Bolton serving as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security voiced grave concerns about Syria’s WMD capabilities. in Sept. 2003 to Congress.

Confusing?  Here’s how it looks chronologically.

TIMELINE:

• 1996: Chemical agents found in Baghdad, moved to U.N. office
• 1996: U.N. began corrupt Oil for Food programme that lined Saddam’s pockets with billions in kickbacks.
• 2003, Feb 14:  on the eve of war Saddam “issues directive banning private companies and individuals from importing WMD materials or producing WMD”, according to the Iraq Survey Group/David Kay.
• 2003, March: U.S. invaded Iraq.
• 2003, Sept. 16:  John Bolton as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security address Congress concerning Syria’s WMD capabilities.
• 2003, Oct: Kay and ISG told Congress WMD may have moved over Iraq’s border.
• 2004, March: U.N. reports Iraq had no WMD after 1994.
• 2007, Aug: U.N. finds WMD from 1996 in their NYC building.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 8:16 pm and is filed under Author: Amy Proctor, Iraq, U.N.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.