Vanishing Agents
Did Iraq really have weapons of mass destruction?
Slate -- May 30, 2003
By Fred Kaplan
Enough already. Where are the weapons of mass destruction?
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared at the Council on Foreign Relations last Tuesday and, during the question-answer period, made the usual excuses for why his team of biochem-weapon hunters hasn't yet found any. "We've only been there seven weeks," he exclaimed. "It's a country the size of California—it's not as though we've managed to look everywhere," he added.
About those trailers?
What Really Happened -- May 30, 2003
[The "What Really Happened" site seems to lean a bit towards the conspiracy theories, but it does have high resolution photos of trailers.]
Rockefeller says Iraq's weapons should have been found by now
Associated Press via From the Wilderness -- May 29, 2003
2 trailers deemed biological arms labs
Washington Times -- May 29, 2003
Report links Iraqi trailers to weapons
The Boston Globe via Global Security -- May 29, 2003
CIA opens report on Iraq trailers
USA Today via Global Security -- May 29, 2003
"The administration has got a serious credibility problem," said John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org, a Washington-area think tank. Pike called the CIA report credible but added, "This long after the war, for them to come up with two rusting trailers, it's pretty thin."
State Dept. Daily Press Briefing for May 28
US Department of State via Scoop -- May 28, 2003
These vans were destined for biological -- to produce biological agents and not for other purposes.
It's very important to recognize that programs that we had said existed do exist; that the kind of equipment that we had said existed does exist.
Report Does Not Replace the Need for Independent International Inspections of Weapons Trailers
INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY -- May 28
However, no biological weapons agents were found on the trailers. Instead, the government's finding is based on eliminating any possible alternative explanations for the trucks, which is a controversial methodology under any circumstances. Given the high stakes for the United States to prove the existence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, this methodology is particularly suspect.
US Confident Saddam Had Mobile WMD Lab
FOX News - May 28, 2003
CIA Report Details Iraqi Mobile Biological Weapons Labs
US Dept. of State -- May 28, 2003
A new Central Intelligence Agency report says the three mobile laboratory facilities uncovered by coalition forces in Iraq provide "the strongest evidence to date" that Iraq had a biological warfare program and made substantial efforts to hide it.
["Strongest evidence to date"? This is all you've got? Sweet Jebus! The rusty trailer up on blocks counts too?]
Iraqi Mobile Biological Warfare Agent Production Plants
CIA-DIA -- May 28, 2003
Iraqi Mobile Biological Warfare Agent Production Plants
CIA-DIA via Global Security -- May 28, 2003
seen at Global Security's
Hot Documents page
Iraqi Mobile Biological Warfare Agent Production Plants
CIA-DIA via American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise -- May 28, 2003
WMD Trail Leads Searchers To Trailers
CBS News -- May 21, 2003
Suspected Mobile Bio-Weapons Labs Discovered in Iraq
JINSA -- May 15, 2003
The equipment included a fermenter that could help to produce germ warfare agents, as well as gas cylinders to supply clear air for agent production and a system to capture and compress exhaust gasses to evade detection of weapons production.
101st providing safe environment in northern Iraq
Army News Service -- May 14, 2003
Soldiers from the 101st Airbourne Division found this mobile lab May 9 that could have been used for manufacturing biological weapons located just north of the city of Mosul.
[I hate to nitpick, but wouldn't it need wheels to qualify as a "mobile" lab?]
[This story has gone into the memory hole, but I found a few copies via google. David Kay, whose expertise lies in nuclear weapons, offered his impromptu analysis of alleged bio-weapons production trailers.]
Suspected bioweapons labs found; three trailers believed to be mobile laboratories
MSNBC -- May 11, 2003
Military teams searching for biological and chemical weapons in Iraq found three trailers believed to be mobile biological weapons laboratories capable of producing deadly germs for weapons, NBC News reported.
The teams found the trailers at a bombed-out rocket and missile factory near Mosul in northern Iraq. One of the trailers was missing its canvas cover, wheels and plumbing -- most likely taken by looters -- but the essential parts, including a compressor and dryer needed to produce weapons grade anthrax, were intact. Military teams were conducting tests for traces of biological weapons, according to NBC News.
Former U.N. weapons inspector David Kay told NBC there was no other possible purpose for the lab. "This is it," he said.
The New York Times, meanwhile, reported on what appears to be the same lab in its Sunday editions.
The newspaper quoted a leader of one of the teams of experts as saying the laboratory could be used for medicinal and peaceful purposes, as well as for making deadly germs for weapons. The paper quoted the unidentified special forces officer as saying that Iraq's failure to disclose the site showed that the ousted regime had violated U.N. disarmament demands.
"The failure to disclose such equipment is a clear violation of United Nations sanctions and an indication of ill intent," the Times quoted the team leader as saying.
Despite U.S. claims that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction, none have been found since American-led forces seized Baghdad and toppled the regime a month ago. Many of Saddam's elite units failed to mount a credible resistance, leading to suspicions that some of them may be trying to reorganize.
The possible find also comes as the 75th Exploitation Task Force directing the search for weapons of mass destruction is making plans to head home in June,The Washington Post reported.
Last week, the Pentagon reported the discovery of another suspected mobile lab. That lab was scrubbed with a bleach-like substance to remove any possible trace of biological weapons, officials said, but was capable of producing them.
Weapons trailer may have been found
NBC News via WNDU -- May 11, 2003
The trailer is one of three that was found outside Mosul ...
U.S. Tests Suspected Bioweapons Lab
CBS News -- May 7, 2003
U.S. Troops Find Evidence of Iraqi WMD Programs
Mobile biological weapons laboratory found near Mosul
US Dept. of State -- May 7, 2003
The mobile laboratory was seized April 19 at a Kurdish checkpoint in northern Iraq. It had been freshly painted in a military camouflage pattern and thoroughly washed with a caustic solution.