Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — In arguing that cleverly hidden weapons of mass destruction may still be uncovered in Iraq, President George W. Bush last night said that Libya had successfully hidden “50 tons of mustard gas in a turkey farm” before voluntarily disclosing its stockpile (see related GSN story, today).

The details of the president’s statement, though, were not correct, a State Department spokesperson said today.

In March, Libya disclosed possessing 23 metric tons of mustard agent to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), according to the spokesperson.

In addition, what was found stored at the turkey farm was a stash of empty shells that could have been used to deploy the mustard agent, the spokesperson said.

Libya had 3,563 such shells; all were destroyed under OPCW supervision by March 3, according to an organization release. In addition, Libya said it had more than 1,300 metric tons of precursor chemicals, a deactivated chemical weapons production facility, and two chemical weapons storage facilities, the OPCW said.

Bush’s 50-ton assertion may have been based on the reported seizure by Italian authorities in late 2002 of nearly 50 tons of a mustard agent precursor believed headed for Libya (see GSN, Jan. 21, 2003).

The shipment, ostensibly for pesticide production, was released by Italy after it was determined that “the products were found to be as stated on the manifest,” an Italian port official reportedly said.

Daryl Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, criticized Bush’s error.

“These are important distinctions that any president of the United States should be able to grasp and pay attention to,” he said.

Kimball also challenged the president’s conclusion about potential Iraqi capabilities.

“Bush has consistently failed to acknowledge the reality that the U.N. weapons inspectors did not find evidence of prohibited chemical, biological or nuclear weapons prior to the war and had warned against confusing ‘unaccounted for’ weapons-related materials with the ‘presence of’ weapons,’” he said.