Iraq claims biological weapons Tuesday, July 18, 2000 MIDDLE EAST | Former UNSCOM executive director Richard Butler said yesterday that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz had told him his country has biological weapons "to deal with the 'Zionist entity,'" according to a report Tuesday in the Jerusalem Post. Butler said he believes Aziz's statement, made during Butler's tenure as a UN-mandated Iraqi disarmament official during a meeting, demonstrates "genocidal character." Speaking at a lecture in Jerusalem, the paper said, Butler claimed that two years after Baghdad expelled UN weapons inspectors, Saddam Hussein is back to manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. He said only a united UN Security Council could prevent Iraq from again stockpiling chemical and biological weapons. Baghdad, now "awash with money," will only be spurred to produce more weapons following Iran's successful launching of a long-range missile on Saturday, Butler said. The former weapons inspector, now a diplomat in residence at the Council on Foreign Relations in the U.S., said Saddam "from day one" attempted to thwart inspections and restart his weapons programs. "Either the Iraqis' declarations were false, phony, or filled with deceptions and evasions," he said. Faced with political pressure from Russia to "lower his standards" and a crumbling Security Council consensus, Butler drew up a list of disarmament requirements for the Iraqis to bring an end to the sanctions, the Post said. Butler said he asked them to account for 500 tons of fuel used to make Scud missiles, to list the quantity of mustard shells as well as the amount of VX nerve gas they had, and most important to reveal what types of biological weapons they were producing. Despite receiving assurances from Aziz, Butler said Baghdad refused to comply with any of his instructions. He also termed Aziz the "minister for disarmament resistance." Iraq expelled Butler's group in 1998. "They refused to comply with my list because it was right. The things I was asking for were precisely the weapons that if we got hold of, Iraq would be disarmed, and they did not want to be," he told his audience. The new organization that took over after UNSCOM was expelled has still, after a year, never set foot in Iraq. Butler said the group is currently undergoing training in New York in Iraq's "cultural sensitivities." Butler also blamed Iraq's refusal to cooperate on Russian interference. Calling Iraq's flaunting of the UN Security Council, with Russia's backing, a "crisis in global security," Butler said Iraq is basically telling the main authority of international law to "get lost." He also said the U.S. has not made it adequately clear to the Russians that their behavior is incompatible with their relationship with Washington, DC. =========================================================== Iran making missile progress, Cohen says Tuesday, July 18, 2000 MIDDLE EAST | Iran is making progress in its ballistic missile program, said Defense Secretary William Cohen on Monday, noting Tehran's successful test of a new Shahab-3 medium range missile late last week. Also, Cohen said, Iran is making progress on longer ranged missiles as well -- weapons that eventually will threaten all of Israel and all U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region. Cohen used the Iranian test to stump for a U.S. national missile defense shield, citing concerns in Washington over the proliferation of ballistic missiles by Tehran and other nations. "Any time you have a success in a theater missile system — that gives you confidence to go forward with more tests with greater capability," Cohen said, as quoted in Tuesday editions of The Washington Times. Missile development "has a way of going almost exponentially once you get some of the fundamentals down," he added. "I think there is absolutely the potential to accelerate development with each successful test," Cohen said during his return flight from Sydney, Australia, where he held defense talks with his Australian counterpart, John C. Moore. Cohen and Moore signed an agreement that will make it easier for U.S. weapons technology to be sent to Australia, the paper said. The secretary said he was pleased that Australia supported a U.S. national missile defense. He added that he was happy Australia was willing to allow U.S. access to a satellite relay station in the central portion of the continent called Pine Gap. Washington and Canberra are stepping up defense ties with Australia by increasing weapons technology transfers, improving missile warning cooperation and even preparing for joint military action should tension in the Taiwan Strait boil over, the Times said. The Iranian missile program is "one of the reasons why it's important to undertake to research, develop and potentially deploy a national missile defense system that would provide protection against countries such as Iran posing a threat to the United States," Cohen said. The Shahab-3 is estimated to have a 620 mile range by U.S. intelligence officials. Tehran is believed to be developing two longer-range missiles known as the Shahab-4 and Shahab-5, the latter having intercontinental range. Two weeks before Cohen visited Asia, which included trips to Australia and China, the Chinese and Iranians signed an agreement to create a "strategic partnership" for the development of a new Silkworm anti-ship missile, the paper said. However, a Chinese spokesman said last month the visit had nothing to do "with the issue of military cooperation" even though senior Iranian defense officials reportedly were part of the delegation. <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. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
