Weather Balloons... and that's what they said at Roswell, too! Nerd From Hell
>-----Original Message----- >From: Miller, Jeffrey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 3:23 PM >To: Killer Bs Discussion >Subject: "Mobile labs" identified as UK-made weather balloon systems > > >I might have missed it if The Fool posted these in the midst >Jeroen's latest BS storm - if I did, sorry! :) > >-j- > > > >Blow to Blair over 'mobile labs' > >Saddam's trucks were for balloons, not germs > >Peter Beaumont and Antony Barnett >Sunday June 8, 2003 >The Observer > >Tony Blair faces a fresh crisis over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass >destruction, as evidence emerges that two vehicles that he has >repeatedly claimed to be Iraqi mobile biological warfare production >units are nothing of the sort. >The intelligence agency MI6, British defence officers and technical >experts from the Porton Down microbiological research establishment >have been ordered to conduct an urgent review of the mobile >facilities, following US analysis which casts serious doubt on >whether they really are germ labs. > >The British review comes amid widespread doubts expressed by >scientists on both sides of the Atlantic that the trucks could have >been used to make biological weapons. > >Instead The Observer has established that it is increasingly likely >that the units were designed to be used for hydrogen production to >fill artillery balloons, part of a system originally sold to Saddam >by Britain in 1987. > >The British review follows access by UK officials to the vehicles >which were discovered by US troops in April and May. > >'We are being very careful now not to jump to any conclusions about >these vehicles,' said one source familiar with the investigation. 'On >the basis of intelligence we do believe that mobile labs do exist. >What is not certain is that these vehicles are actually them so we >are being careful not to jump the gun.' > >The claim, however, that the two vehicles are mobile germ labs has >been repeated frequently by both Blair and President George Bush in >recent days in support of claims that they prove the existence of >Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. > >During his whistle stop tour of the Gulf, Europe and Russia, Blair >repeatedly briefed journalists that the trailers were germ production >labs which proved that Iraq had WMD. > >But chemical weapons experts, engineers, chemists and military >systems experts contacted by The Observer over the past week, say the >layout and equipment found on the trailers is entirely inconsistent >with the vehicles being mobile labs. Both US Secretary of State Colin >Powell, when he addressed the UN Security Council prior to the war, >and the British Government alleged that Saddam had such labs. > >A separate investigation published by the New York Times yesterday >discloses that the trailers have now been investigated by three >different teams of Western experts, with the third and most senior >group of analysts apparently divided sharply over their function. > >'I have no great confidence that it's a fermenter,' a senior analyst >said of a tank supposed to be capable of multiplying seed germs into >lethal swarms. The government's public report, he said, 'was a rushed >job and looks political'. The analyst had not seen the trailers, but >reviewed evidence from them. > >Another intelligence expert who has seen the trailers told the US >paper: 'Everyone has wanted to find the "smoking gun" so much that >they may have wanted to have reached this conclusion. I am very upset >with the process.' > >Questions over the claimed purpose of trailer for making biological >weapons include: > >* The lack of any trace of pathogens found in the fermentation tanks. >According to experts, when weapons inspectors checked tanks in the >mid-Nineties that had been scoured to disguise their real use, traces >of pathogens were still detectable. > >* The use of canvas sides on vehicles where technicians would be >working with dangerous germ cultures. > >* A shortage of pumps required to create vacuum conditions required >for working with germ cultures and other processes usually associated >with making biological weapons. > >* The lack of an autoclave for steam sterilisation, normally a >prerequisite for any kind of biological production. Its lack of >availability between production runs would threaten to let in germ >contaminants, resulting in failed weapons. > >* The lack of any easy way for technicians to remove germ fluids from >the processing tank. > >One of those expressing severe doubts about the alleged mobile germ >labs is Professor Harry Smith, who chairs the Royal Society's working >party on biological weapons. > >He told The Observer 'I am concerned about the canvas sides. Ideally, >you would want airtight facilities for making something like anthrax. >Not only that, it is a very resistant organism and even if the Iraqis >cleaned the equipment, I would still expect to find some trace of >it.' > >His view is shared by the working group of the Federation of American >Scientists and by the CIA, which states: 'Senior Iraqi officials of >the al-Kindi Research, Testing, Development, and Engineering facility >in Mosul were shown pictures of the mobile production trailers, and >they claimed that the trailers were used to chemically produce >hydrogen for artillery weather balloons.' > >Artillery balloons are essentially balloons that are sent up into the >atmosphere and relay information on wind direction and speed allowing >more accurate artillery fire. Crucially, these systems need to be >mobile. > >The Observer has discovered that not only did the Iraq military have >such a system at one time, but that it was actually sold to them by >the British. In 1987 Marconi, now known as AMS, sold the Iraqi army >an Artillery Meteorological System or Amets for short. > >http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,973012,00.html > >In a related story, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page claim innocence in >providing support to the the Iraqi ZoMDs (Zeppelins of Mass >Destruction) program before being detained and held indefinitely >under the Patriot Act and shipped to a Guantanamo Bay holding >facility. > > > > >> ''Mobile lies'' >> Printed on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 @ 00:05:50 CDT >> >> By Imad Khadduri >> Former Iraqi nuclear scientist >> YellowTimes.org Guest Columnist (Canada) >> >> >> "...In an article published on the same day as Powell's interview, >> Peter Beaumont and Antony Barnett reported in the Observer that >there >> is mounting indications that these vans were for "balloons, not >> germs." >> >> The Iraqis concur. >> >> According to the article, "Senior Iraqi officials of the al-Kindi >> Research, Testing, Development, and Engineering facility in Mosul >> were shown pictures of the mobile production trailers, and they >> claimed that the trailers were used to produce hydrogen chemically >> for artillery weather balloons. Artillery balloons are essentially >> balloons that are sent up into the atmosphere and relay information >> on wind direction and speed, allowing more accurate artillery fire. >> Crucially, these systems need to be mobile. The Observer has >> discovered that not only did the Iraq military have such a system >at >> one time, but that it was actually sold to them by the British. In >> 1987, Marconi, now known as AMS, sold the Iraqi army an Artillery >> Meteorological System or Amets for short...." >> >> http://yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1411&mode=thread&order=0 >> >> Oh, Good Lord! Mow we know what those EVIL WoMDs were. Zeppelins! >> Oh... the humanity... > > >_______________________________________________ >http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l > _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
