The U.S. military’s 75th Exploitation Task Force, which has been deployed in Iraq to search for weapons of mass destruction, is expected to end operations next month without finding any evidence of Iraqi WMD efforts, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, May 9).

Task force leaders no longer “think we’re going to find chemical rounds sitting next to a gun,” according to Army Col. Robert Smith, who leads the Defense Threat Reduction Agency site assessment teams.  “That’s what we came here for, but we’re past that,” he said.

The U.S. search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction will now be conducted by the Iraq Survey Group, a larger unit of scientific experts and intelligence officials than the task force, according to the Post.  That effort, however, is shaping up to be smaller that originally planned, according to the Post.

For example, the site survey teams will reduce their number of WMD and missile experts from six to two.  The Direct Support team, a DTRA nuclear special operations group, has already sent home a third of its original complement and plans to further reduce its staff by half.

“We thought we would be much more gainfully employed, or intensively employed, than we were,” said Navy Cmdr. David Beckett, who directs special nuclear programs for the team.

Only two of the 19 top WMD sites identified by the U.S. Central Command prior to the war remain to be searched, the Post reported.  Out of 68 top “non-WMD sites,” which are believed to have important clues that could aid in the search, 45 had been searched by last week without any finds.

Task force members explained their lack of results, in part, because of their slow advance into Iraq.  U.S. ground commanders sometimes kept task force teams away from the military front, and the task force itself had no helicopters of its own, according to the Post.

“My personal feeling is we waited too long and stayed too far back,” said Christopher Kowal, a computer forensics expert who worked for Mobile Exploitation Team Charlie until last week.

Task force members also said that the looting of suspect sites by Iraqis severely hindered the WMD hunt.  As of last week, U.S. troops had only secured 44 of the 85 top weapons sites in Baghdad and 153 of the 372 sites considered to be the most essential in the reconstruction of the country, the Post reported (Barton Gellman, Washington Post, May 11).

WMD Search Continues

Meanwhile, one of the task force’s teams, Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha, has discovered the strongest radiation source found so far in Iraq at an abandoned test range near the city of Amiriya, according to the New York Times.

On Friday, the team investigated the site and found eight poles connected to earth-covered concrete bunkers.  The team traveled to the site after receiving reports that coalition forces had found a large source of radiation in one of eight pits near the poles.  The initial report said that one of the pits was emitting radiation levels more than 1,000 times that of normal radiation levels, according to the Times.  When the team arrived at the site, it only found moderate levels of radiation at the bases of the poles.

After examining the poles, experts determined that they had been designed to raise and lower a radioactive source, believed to be cobalt 60, to expose troops and equipment to radiation, according to the Times.  According to international nuclear experts, the site had been used more than 10 years ago to expose troops to a simulated nuclear battlefield (Judith Miller, New York Times, May 12).

Dr. Germ in Custody

Two former Iraqi officials, including the infamous “Dr. Germ,” are now in U.S. custody, U.S. officials said today.

Rihab Taha, who has been dubbed Dr. Germ by the media, was the former head of Iraq’s biological weapons program.  U.S. officials believe Taha, who is No. 197 on the coalition’s most wanted list, may be able to assist the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. forces have also taken into custody Ibrahim Ahmad al-Sattar Muhammad al-Tikriti, former chief of staff of the Iraqi military and No. 11 on the U.S. list of 55 most wanted officials (CNN.com, May 12).

Rewards Offered

U.S. authorities in Iraq have issued a nationwide radio appeal for information that could help the search for Iraqi WMD efforts, according to the London Times.  The appeal offers a reward and anonymity for the informants.

“The reward you may get can improve your living standard,” the appeal said (Catherine Philp, London Times, May 12).

Sanctions

Experts among U.N. Security Council members are expected today to study a draft resolution introduced last week by the United States, United Kingdom and Spain to lift U.N. sanctions against Iraq.  Security Council ambassadors are expected to begin debating the resolution Wednesday.

After that meeting, “we will have a better assessment of where everybody is," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Saturday.  “Initial reaction from capitals is everybody wants to move forward, a great deal of pragmatism, no refighting of the past, no screaming and shouting, if I could put it that way, but a lot of questions,” he said.

Russia said Saturday that it has begun consulting with other council members on the draft resolution.  During the council discussions on the resolution, Russia will again “underscore the need for the United Nations’ central role in this process,” Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said (Russia Journal, May 11).

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