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Iraq I: Powell Lays Out U.S. Intelligence on Iraqi “Denial and Deception” By Bryan Bender Powell made public intercepted communications between Iraqi officials, sequences of satellite photos depicting equipment being moved in advance of U.N. inspections, and information from multiple defectors pointing to mobile biological weapons labs. Since U.N. weapons inspections resumed in Iraq in November — following unanimous passage of Security Council Resolution 1441 calling on Iraq to declare its prohibited weapons of mass destruction programs — Iraqi officials have done “all they possibly can to ensure inspectors succeed in finding absolutely nothing,” Powell told the 15 members of the council. Powell’s presentation, titled “Denial and Deception,” covered the gamut of charges against Iraq, including efforts to conceal chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and development programs, as well as prohibited missile activities. In one accusation, Powell replayed several intercepted radio transmissions that allegedly record some Iraqi officials ordering others to sanitize weapons facilities and remove suspect materials prior to U.N. weapons inspections. One intercept includes officials discussing the need to conceal what Powell termed a “modified vehicle,” while another highlights the need to cover up evidence of what he called “forbidden ammo.” Two Iraqi commanders in the 2nd Republican Guard Corps — identified by Powell as a colonel and a captain — discuss instructions to remove “nerve agents.” In addition, Powell presented satellite images taken Nov. 10 showing what U.S. analysts say were four active chemical weapons bunkers in Taji. Decontamination trucks positioned close to the four sites were described as the best evidence that weapons were being kept there. The same facilities were “clean when the U.N. got there” Dec. 22, Powell said. In other images, cargo trucks carrying what are believed to be missile components are seen leaving a facility at al-Fatah Nov. 10, two days before inspectors arrived in the country. Another truck was also shown leaving a vaccine and serum facility days later. Powell said four defectors have told U.S. intelligence officials Iraq has been utilizing mobile biological weapons production and research units, the so-called “Winnebagos of Death.” These mobile laboratories, believed to have the ability to make “dry” agents that pose the most risk to humans, are thought to house anthrax, botulinum toxin and other deadly agents, Powell said. In one month these laboratories could manufacture enough material to “kill thousands,” Powell said. “There are 18 trucks that we know of,” Powell said. “There may be more.” As for chemical weapons production, Powell said Iraq has the ability to make up to 500 tons of chemical agents, many of them in so-called dual-use facilities that also manufacture civilian products. These countless facilities can go “from clandestine to commercial and then back again,” Powell said, “on a dime.” Powell showed photographs of another suspected chemical weapons facility, al-Musayyib, taken last May, similarly showing a series of bunkers and a nearby contamination truck. By July, the entire sprawling base appears to have been bulldozed and the topsoil replaced, Powell said. Powell also said that despite no evidence found by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, Iraq continues to pursue nuclear weapons. Providing more detail, he repeated the earlier U.S. assertion that Iraq has sought aluminum tubes, with “refined specifications,” for possible use in enriching uranium. Powell said Iraq sought these materials in at least 11 countries (see GSN, Jan. 24). As for systems to deliver outlawed weapons, Powell presented images that depicted what he said was a flight test of a MiG-21 outfitted with spray tanks dispersing simulated biological agents. He also revealed intelligence, including a satellite picture of a test stand, about ongoing development of a medium-range, liquid-fueled missile capable of traveling 1,200 kilometers. That is eight times farther than Iraqi missiles are permitted under U.N. resolutions. Powell said this missile could hit targets as far away as Russia, adding that the program “was left out” of Iraq’s 12,000-page weapons declaration provided to the United Nations Dec. 7. Powell said U.S. intelligence believes a special committee that reports directly to Saddam Hussein — which includes his son Qusay and General Amir al-Saudi, the chief Iraqi liaison to the U.N. inspections teams — is responsible for covering up Iraq’s illegal weapons programs. “Iraq is now in further material breach” of Resolution 1441, Powell said. If it does not act swiftly and authoritatively, the United Nations is “in danger of irrelevance.” He closed by outlining a variety of Iraq’s purported links with terrorist groups, including members of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. Whether Powell’s presentation was effective remains to be seen, but one expert said Washington’s job of convincing the international body of the need to take military action against Saddam Hussein is incomplete. “Powell’s presentation had to do two things,” said Jon Wolfsthal, deputy director of the Nonproliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “First it had to demonstrate that the Iraqis were in material breach of Resolution 1441, and he succeeded. It was a home run. But that case existed before the speech. “But to convince countries like France and Germany and the broader public that military action is needed, he needed to demonstrate conclusively that Iraq has chemical and biological weapons,” he said. “And on that I think he failed. He makes a circumstantial case, but if he were in an American court of law, I don’t think he could get an indictment, let alone a conviction.”
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