NewsMine — war-on-terror — iraq — pretext — wmd — Viewing Item

No wmds found in iraq { September 24 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3135932.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3135932.stm Last Updated: Wednesday, 24 September, 2003, 19:48 GMT 20:48 UK No WMD in Iraq, source claims No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq by the group looking for them, according to a Bush administration source who has spoken to the BBC. This will be the conclusion of the Iraq Survey Group's interim report, the source told the presenter of BBC television's Daily Politics show, Andrew Neil. Downing Street branded the story "speculation about an unfinished draft of an interim report". Mr Neil said the draft report - which the source said is due to be published next month - concludes that it is highly unlikely that weapons of mass destruction were shipped out of the country to places like Syria before the US-led war on Iraq. The bottom line is that the team has found no weapons of mass destruction Andrew Neil It will also say that Saddam Hussein mounted a huge programme to deceive and hinder the work of United Nations weapons inspectors, he said. Mr Neil said that according to the source, the report will say its inspectors have not even unearthed "minute amounts of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons material". They have also not uncovered any laboratories involved in deploying weapons of mass destruction and no delivery systems for the weapons. IRAQ SURVEY GROUP Took over WMD hunt from the US military in June Using intelligence to build picture of Iraqi weapons programmes Led by US general, but has some UK and Australian staff 1,300 staff include former UN weapons inspectors But, Mr Neil added, the report would publish computer programmes, files, pictures and paperwork which it says shows that Saddam Hussein's regime was attempting to develop a weapons of mass destruction programme. CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told the Reuters news agency he expected the report would "reach no firm conclusions, nor will it rule anything in or out". Reuters also quoted a senior US official as saying the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) was expected to report finding "documentary evidence" that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons programmes. "Whether they will find or disclose anything on the weapons themselves, I doubt," said the official. 'Savage blow' UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "This is speculation on an as yet unpublished report. "I await the report eagerly from Mr Kay (head of the survey group), as does the international community." Mr Straw argued that the whole international community had agreed Iraq's weapons programmes had posed - the issue had been what to do about it. People did not need the ISG report for evidence of that threat, he said. It was already shown in volumes of reports from UN inspectors. A Number 10 spokesman said "we don't have this text", but asked if the prime minister had seem the report, remarked: "We are not going into details of process." Mr Neil, a former editor of the Sunday Times, stressed he had not seen the draft report, and was reporting what a single source had said its findings were likely to be. He said the report was still to be finalised and could undergo some changes, but the source had been told the content of some key passages which were not expected to be substantively altered. Former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo said if these details of the report were true, it would be a "savage blow" to the prime minister. 'Fake facilities' The inspectors have uncovered no evidence that any weapons were actually built in the immediate years before the war, the leak of the report suggests. It is alleged that Saddam Hussein's programme of deception involved fake facilities and infrastructure to deceive and hinder the work of UN weapons inspectors. The group may well conclude that Iraq had an elaborate and secret effort to maintain elements of its weapons programmes - in 'suspended animation' if you like Jonathan Marcus BBC defence correspondent Documents have been uncovered showing weapons facilities were concealed as commercial buildings, the report is likely to say. The ISG took over the job of finding WMD from the US military in June. The survey group, led by David Kay, a former UN weapons inspector and now a special adviser to the CIA, is a largely US operation, although it includes some British and Australian staff. Its 1,400 personnel are made up of scientists, military and intelligence experts, and its work is shrouded in secrecy. Its focus is intelligence, using documents and interviews with Iraqi scientists to build up a picture of the secret world of Iraq's weapons programmes. The survey group has been under pressure to prove the Bush administration's case that Iraq's weapons posed a significant threat. Gary Samor, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, recently told the BBC that UN inspection teams should have been sent back into Iraq as there would be much scepticism about the ISG's findings.

tubes uranium weapons-declaration Blair admits weapons may never be found { January 12 2004 } Blair admits wmds may never be found { July 6 2004 } Blair decided regime change april 2002 despite rhetoric { May 2 2005 } Blix accuses fabricating evidence { April 12 2003 } Blix report doubts wmd { June 2 2003 } British doctored wmd dossier { May 29 2003 } Bush declines to back call for intelligence probe Bush jokes about finding wmds Bush says war worth it despite no wmds Bush says weapons will be found Chemical weapons plant created after invasion { August 14 2005 } Children play with uranium tubes Cia condemned for flawed intelligence Cia operative asked to falsify wmd report { December 9 2004 } Classified study doubts weapons in 2002 Documents concerning uranium came from italy { October 25 2005 } Fbi says profit motivated italian uranium forgery Germ trailer evidence rejected { June 7 2003 } GWB_WMD_Memo [pdf] Inspector reports iraq had no WMD Iraq declared al samoud missiles { April 29 2003 } Iraq destroyed wmd 1995 Iraq may have destroyed wmd { May 27 2003 } Kay blames cia for no wmd Kurds help find wmd lab { May 7 2003 } Mccain picked for iraq intelligence probe Might have to be planted New inspections to plant weapons { April 8 2003 } New reports on us planting wmds in iraq No firm evidence banned weapons { April 7 2003 } No reliable evidence of iraqi weapons { June 6 2003 } No reliable information wmd { June 6 2003 } No weapons found in iraq says report No wmd found but { February 14 2003 } No wmds found in iraq { September 24 2003 } Nuclear program materials still buried { June 26 2003 } Officer refused falsify wmd reports Panel assails CIA for failure on iraq weapons { March 29 2005 } Powell says new data may have affected war decision { February 3 2004 } Powell says wmd stocks wont be found Powell says wmd un speech blot on record Presidential report is critical of intelligence agencies Questions on blair intelligence { April 21 2003 } Report says intel on wmd was dead wrong { March 31 2005 } Rockefeller says weapons should been found { May 29 2003 } Saddam had no weapons in 2003 { October 6 2004 } Saddam says wmd excuse for war Scientist says arms kept till war { April 21 2003 } Scientist surrenders says no wmd Search for wmds in iraq ended last month { January 12 2005 } Sen Durbin jan 26 06 on iraq wmds [mp3] Sen Durbin jan 26 06 on iraq wmds Senate panel blames bad iraq intelligence on CIA Senators told iraqi weapons could hit east coast Seniors sources ruled out finding wmds { July 10 2003 } Skepticism on bushs weapons claims grow { May 22 2003 } Smoking gun wmd site just pesticide Task force unable find wmd { May 11 2003 } Team hunting iraq WMD ends its search { January 12 2005 } Test barrels nerve agent Us adds teams hunt { April 27 2003 } Us not inspected iraq nuclear facility { April 25 2003 } US team concludes saddam had no wmd { April 26 2005 } Us withdraws team of weapons hunters { January 8 2004 } Usa and uk lied war pretext Usa will falsify wmd Weapons hunter quits says doubts they exist Wmd intelligence was falisified { February 15 2004 } Wmd proof [jpg] Files Listed: 69

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.