Although the Bush administration has said it is concerned about Iraqi purchases of atropine, a drug that can be used as an antidote to nerve gas, U.S. officials on a U.N committee that monitors Iraqi imports have approved most of the purchases, the Wall Street Journal reported today (see GSN, Nov. 12).

Since 1997, Iraq has ordered more than 3.5 million atropine doses, according to U.N. records.  It is possible that Baghdad might want to use the drug to treat its own troops when launching a chemical attack against an enemy force, U.S. officials said.  U.S. suspicions grew last month when the United Nations approved a purchase of 1.5 million atropine doses, according to the Journal.

The United States previously has appeared convinced, however, that the Iraqi atropine purchases have been meant for civilian use, the Journal reported.  With U.S. support, the U.N. sanctions committee approved an Iraqi purchase of 1 million doses in 1998 and another transaction for the same amount in 2001, according to U.N. records.  U.N. investigators found evidence that health officials in Iraqi provinces received the drug from the 2001 purchase, said Hasmik Egian, a spokesman for the U.N. Iraq program.

“It is true that these are medical supplies and they have basically gone through the sanctions committee without questions,” a U.S. official said.  “But at any given moment, it’s reasonable to ask why they need this much,” the official added (David Cloud, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 13).

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