-Caveat Lector- http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,917854,00.html
Inspectors say US intelligence was wrong Owen Bowcott in Larnaca, Cyprus Thursday March 20, 2003 The Guardian One of the UN weapons inspectors evacuated from Baghdad yesterday accused the US of providing the mission with wrong and misleading information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Speaking from the hotel in Cyprus where the inspectors have regrouped since leaving Iraq on Tuesday, Jorn Siljeholm dismissed the US intelligence reports as "political" instead of factual. "None of their hot tips were ever confirmed," he said, adding: "I don't know about a single decontamination truck that didn't turn out to be a fire engine or a water truck." Mr Siljeholm, 48, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was angry at assertions made by US administration officials about the extent of the Iraqi arsenal. "When you find nothing and repeat the hypothesis that [the Iraqis] are hiding something, it just weakens the hypothesis," he said. Disheartened, and in several cases angry, at the decision to abort their four-month mission to disarm Saddam Hussein, the inspectors acknowledged that the climate of fear inside Iraq had frustrated their weapons search. "If an Iraqi scientist revealed to us everything he knew, he and his family would be liquidated," said one official with the UN's monitoring, verification and inspection commission (Unmovic). "Iraqi scientists were warned to be careful. Taking them out of the country, taking them to heaven, would not have made any difference in convincing them to talk." Another inspector who took part in face-to-face interviews with Iraqi scientists came to understand their predicament. "They were feeling a little guilty," he said, "but they insisted they had been ordered by the government to take part in chemical and biological research for the army. Saddam has militarised the whole country, everywhere you go there are policemen." Another UN source said: "There were clearly signs the Iraqis were not willing to let some of them be interviewed in private. Even at the end scientists insisted on bringing tape recorders with them." The tapes, it was suspected, would have been handed to Iraqi intelligence as proof that nothing compromising had been betrayed. "This raises doubt over whether the Iraqi authorities have something to hide or were fearful of these people exposing what we didn't already know." But most of the inspectors stressed that the mission had been making progress right up to the moment when the order to evacuate was issued. "[On Monday evening] we were conducting a private interview about biological weapons which went on for two and a half hours," said Miroslav Gregoric, the head of Unmovic's mission in Baghdad. "It's sad to see unfinished business being completed by other means, not necessarily within the UN system." Asked whether more time would have averted war, he replied: "I'm not sure. We were removing weapons of mass destruction. In four months it was difficult to achieve everything. Our inspectors were working seven days a week, but the system inside Iraq is very closed; people are frightened. Our work was like assembling a jigsaw puzzle: when you put all the pieces together you hope to see the whole picture." Among the inspectors and support staff the prevailing mood was disappointment that their efforts had been overtaken by the political rift in the UN security council. Their private opinions reflected the full spectrum of international debate: some said the Iraqis deserved freedom, others feared the consequences of the imminent US onslaught. "When you live in a country for some time it becomes your home," said one worker, looking out over the windswept Cypriot beach. Bedereldine Ahmed, a translator, said: "I wish we had stayed. The Iraqi people feel disappointed. They wanted us to complete the job." A colleague added: "People are a little angry, but mostly sad. We hope to go back to Baghdad." After two days' rest and time to finish their final reports, the UN team will learn at the weekend whether the mission is to be suspended or abolished. Some hope they will be allowed back after the war to complete a final audit of President Saddam's weapons. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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