WMD found on the eve of Iraq invasion anniversary?


On the eve of the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, as Oxford anti-war campaigners once more, rather wearily, prepare sandwiches, banners, placards and waterproofs, and get ready for another trudge from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, news comes that it has all been a total mistake. Saddam was never the nice little chap we ninnies thought he was (did you ever meet anyone who thought that?). No, the Weapons of Mass Thingummy were there all the time, ready to blow us all to smithereens at any moment.
I received the following report from an Oxford source this morning, originally published in the online (and English-language version of) Teheran Times on 14 March. See what you think…


With many thanks to Peter Stevens for his excellent photos of the demo on 15 February 2003. To see the rest, go to Indymedia at www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/02/54645.html.


NB A coach will be leaving Oxford at 10.00am from St Giles for Saturday’s demo in London. For more details, see the calendar on our home page.
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US Unloads WMD in Iraq
Teharan Times, 14.03.2004 15:25

the Teharan Times reported Sat. Mar. 13th, that the US forces in Iraq have
been unloading in Iraq's southern ports a large cargo of parts for
constructing long range missiles and weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. UNLOADING WMD IN IRAQ

TEHRAN (Mehr News Agency) - Over the past few days, in the wake of the
bombings in Karbala and the ideological disputes that delayed the signing of
Iraq's interim constitution, there have been reports that U.S. forces have
unloaded a large cargo of parts for constructing long-range missiles and
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern ports of Iraq.

A reliable source from the Iraqi Governing Council, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told the Mehr News Agency that U.S. forces, with the help of
British forces stationed in southern Iraq, had made extensive efforts to
conceal their actions.

He added that the cargo was unloaded during the night as attention was still
focused on the aftermath of the deadly bombings in Karbala and the signing of
Iraq's interim constitution.

The source said that in order to avoid suspicion, ordinary cargo ships were
used to download the cargo, which consisted of weapons produced in the 1980s
and 1990s.

He mentioned the fact that the United States had facilitated Iraq's WMD
program during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq and said that some of the weapons
being downloaded are similar to those weapons, although international
inspectors had announced Saddam Hussein's Baath regime had destroyed all its
WMD.

The source went on to say that the rest of the weapons were probably
transferred in vans to an unknown location somewhere in the vicinity of Basra
overnight.

"Most of these weapons are of Eastern European origin and some parts are from
the former Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. The U.S. obtained them through
confiscations during sales of banned arms over the past two decades," he
said.

This action comes as certain U.S. and Western officials have been pointing out
the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been discovered in Iraq and
the issue of Saddam's trial begins to take center stage.

In addition, former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has emphasized that
the U.S. and British intelligence agencies issued false reports on Iraq
leading to the U.S. attack.

(.....)

------Occupation Forces Official Claims to Have No Information About
Transfer of WMD to Iraq -------

A security official for the coalition forces in Iraq said that he has not
received any information about the unloading of weapons of mass destruction
in ports in southern Iraq.

Shane Wolf told the Mehr News Agency that the occupation forces have received
no reports on such events, but said he hoped that the coalition forces would
find the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction one day.

Coalition forces and inspectors have so far been unable to find any Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. invaded Iraq under the pretext that
Iraq possessed a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.