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WMD Hunt Slowed by Uncooperative Iraqi Scientists Who Fear Prosecution, Officials Say Bush administration and congressional officials have said the fear of possible prosecution among Iraqi scientists may be hindering U.S. efforts to search for evidence of Iraq’s suspected WMD programs, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, Sept. 5). The publicized arrests of WMD scientists have resulted in reduced cooperation from Iraqi scientists who have knowledge of such programs, sources said. Those scientists that have been arrested have provided no information on the alleged programs, possibly fearing prosecution for their involvement, officials said. Those scientists not in U.S. custody are afraid to come forward for fear of being jailed and prosecuted, the Post reported. Officials are unsure as to best way to handle Iraqi scientists, according to Representative Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), a member of the House intelligence committee who recently visited Baghdad. “There is uncertainty about the best way” to deal with the Iraqis, Hoekstra said. “Some (say) the role of prosecuting attorney would not be inappropriate, deciding who to negotiate a deal with so that we not let everyone get off scot-free,” he said. Former U.N. weapons inspector David Kay, who is coordinating the Iraq Survey Group’s efforts to find Iraqi WMD programs, is expected to provide a report on the group’s progress later this month, a senior Bush administration official said. The exact date and form of Kay’s report has not yet been determined (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Sept. 6). Poor Accounting May Have Resulted in “Unaccounted For” Stockpiles Meanwhile, former U.N. weapons inspectors have said that unaccounted for Iraqi WMD stockpiles may be more the result of poor record keeping, rather than deliberate attempts to hide such weapons, according to the Associated Press. Some of the suspect stockpiles may be the result of poor accounting after Iraq destroyed biological and chemical weapons years ago, according to former U.N. inspectors. Some of the unaccounted for weapons may be the results of miscounts, while others may have originated from exaggerated arms production reports intended to appease Iraqi leaders, AP reported. “Under that sort of regime, you don’t admit you got it wrong,” said former U.N. chemical weapons inspector Ron Manley. Former U.N. inspector Scott Ritter agreed that Iraqi reports on WMD production quantities were inflated. “There was so much pressure put on scientists to produce world-class systems, they would exaggerate their reports back to authorities,” Ritter said. Once inspectors actually visited sites and spoke with scientists, “you suddenly realized they weren’t as good as they said they were,” he said (Charles Hanley, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 7).
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