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Iraq I: Inspectors Visit Crucial Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Sites International inspectors today visited two sites believed to have been crucial in Iraq’s attempts to obtain weapons of mass destruction — the main site for the country’s nuclear weapons program and the former center of its biological and chemical weapons efforts (see GSN, Dec. 3). International Atomic Energy Agency experts visited the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, located south of Baghdad (see GSN, Oct. 9). The agency has monitored the center, considered to be Iraq’s main nuclear facility, for the past 10 years, according to Reuters (see GSN, Jan. 31). The facility once operated several research reactors and conducted research into plutonium separation, waste processing and uranium enrichment. Several metric tons of uranium have been stored at Tuwaitha under IAEA seal since 1998. Inspectors from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission visited the al-Muthanna State Establishment, located 45 miles north of the Iraqi capital (Haddadin/Giacomo, Reuters, Dec. 4). When U.N. inspectors had discovered in the 1990s that the facility played a crucial role in Iraq’s attempts to develop biological and chemical weapons, they destroyed the chemical and biological equipment and materials at the site. Inspectors visited the site today to ensure that no one has restarted arms production there (Charles Hanley, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Dec. 4). Missing Equipment Iraqi officials yesterday provided more information on equipment believed to be missing from the al-Karama General Company, a key Iraqi missile development site. U.N. inspectors had tagged the equipment in 1998, and inspectors who visited the site Monday discovered it was missing. Iraqi officials said they had acknowledged moving the equipment and indicated its new location in an Oct. 1 declaration in Vienna, according to the New York Times (see GSN, Oct. 1). The location of the missing tagged equipment will also be included in the full declaration of WMD programs that Iraq is required to provide by Sunday, the officials said. U.N. experts are examining the Vienna declaration, U.N. spokesman Hiro Ueki said (John Burns, New York Times, Dec. 4). Declaration Deadline Meanwhile, Baghdad said yesterday that it plans to provide the full declaration of its WMD programs required under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 one day before of the Dec. 8 deadline. “We are going to deliver this declaration in the proper time, on the 7th of this month,” said Hossam Mohammed Amin, head of the Iraqi National Monitoring directorate. “The declaration will have new elements but ... will not ... necessarily include a declaration of weapons of mass destruction,” Amin added. The declaration might consist of a list of Iraq’s dual-use equipment — equipment that has both civilian and WMD applications — according to the Financial Times. It might also include information on weapons of mass destruction for which officials have failed to account during past U.N. inspections. Iraq might send an initial list including the most important items and might then ask for additional time to prepare a more detailed list of controlled dual-use items, diplomats in Baghdad said. Iraq must provide its declaration to the IAEA and UNMOVIC, which both have offices in Baghdad, and to the U.N. Security Council. Mohammed al-Douri, Iraq’s U.N. ambassador, might not be able to hand over all of the information making up the declaration to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan until Sunday, diplomats said. The United States plans to carefully study and assess Iraq’s declaration, regardless of its possible length, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said yesterday. “We don’t know how many pages they’ll provide,” Fleischer said. “It could be hundreds, it could be thousands of pages ... but depending on how long it is, we’ll take the appropriate time to review it, assess it, study it,” he added (Ghattas/Hoyos, Financial Times, Dec. 4). The United States is preparing to conduct an extensive analysis of Iraq’s WMD declaration and plans to publicly counter any Iraqi claim that it lacks weapons of mass destruction, officials said. “The U.S. government will put a lot of effort into analyzing it,” a senior State Department official said. “A lot of people will be working the moment it arrives.” “We know what they’re doing,” the official said, referring to the Iraqis. “We don’t know what we’re going to get.” A false declaration by itself, however, would not be enough justification for military action, according to Security Council diplomats and senior U.S. officials. If Iraq were to provide the United Nations with a false declaration, however, it might be among the first steps toward military action, especially if the United States could show that Iraq intentionally provided false information, according to the Baltimore Sun. “If Iraqis continue to maintain in their declaration that they do not have weapons of mass destruction, we are certainly prepared to show the international community this is not the case,” a Bush administration official said. The possible Iraqi responses range from an outright denial to a partial admission that some of its WMD arsenal remained and would be surrendered, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday. Iraq might decide to acknowledge part of its WMD efforts to satisfy the Security Council, a move akin to a animal caught in a trap that “chews off one leg to survive,” said Jon Wolfsthal of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Mark Matthews, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 4). Annan Challenges Bush’s View of Inspections Annan yesterday countered the Bush administration’s pessimistic view of the U.N. inspections so far, saying that Iraqi cooperation “seems to be good.” It is too early to determine Iraq’s willingness to disarm itself, Annan said, adding that he is pleased that inspectors have had easy access to all the sites they have visited, including one of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s palaces. Annan called on Baghdad to maintain its cooperation with inspectors. “It’s only been a week and obviously the cooperation seems to be good, but this is not a one-week wonder,” Annan said. “They have to sustain the cooperation and the effort and perform,” he added (Lynch/Allen, Washington Post, Dec. 4). Oil-for-Food Meanwhile, the United States is expected to increase its efforts to strengthen U.N. sanctions against Iraq over the next two weeks, despite opposition from France, Russia and other members of the Security Council, according to the Financial Times (see GSN, Dec. 2). The United States is refusing to renew the U.N. oil-for-food program with Iraq for the customary six-month period without first amending the Goods Review List, which details what items Iraq is barred from importing without Security Council approval. The U.S. Defense Department has called for several additions to the list, including the antibiotic Cipro, geopositioning systems and atropine injectors, an antidote to nerve gas, the Times reported. The U.S. move has angered several Security Council members, who do not want to hold up the oil-for-food program, according to the Times. Instead, they are more willing to reduce the number of items on the list, saying that this would help increase trade with Iraq. Diplomats have said they expect the Pentagon’s list of amendments to the Goods Review List to be reduced over the next two weeks. The Pentagon’s call for reopening negotiations over the list, however, has hurt the atmosphere in the council, they said. “It has renewed worries among some members about how seriously the whole U.S. system is committed to the peaceful option (of disarming Iraq),” a Western diplomat said (Carola Hoyos, Financial Times, Dec. 4). Turkish Support Turkey yesterday appeared to waffle on its support of potential U.S. military action in Iraq, first saying it would allow the use of its airbases and then later saying that its commitment was not firm, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Nov. 18). Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis first said that in the event of military action, Turkey planned to open its airspace and allow U.S. troops to utilze facilities within the country. Several hours later, however, the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying Yakis was speaking of “possibilities” and was not making promises. “The fact that he has referred to these possibilities does not mean a commitment on the part of Turkey,” the ministry said (Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 4). For further information, see:
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