New Reports on U.S. Planting WMDs in Iraq

[G_j]

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0413-02.htm

http://www.mehrnews.com/wfNewsDetails_en.aspx?NewsID=70071&t=Political

Published on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 by the Mehr News Agency (Tehran, Iran)
New Reports on U.S. Planting WMDs in Iraq


BASRA -– Fifty days after the first reports that the U.S. forces were unloading weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in southern Iraq, new reports about the movement of these weapons have been disclosed.

Sources in Iraq speculate that occupation forces are using the recent unrest in Iraq to divert attention from their surreptitious shipments of WMD into the country.

An Iraqi source close to the Basra Governor’s Office told the MNA that new information shows that a large part of the WMD, which was secretly brought to southern and western Iraq over the past month, are in containers falsely labeled as containers of the Maeresk shipping company and some consignments bearing the labels of organizations such as the Red Cross or the USAID in order to disguise them as relief shipments.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Iraqi officials including forces loyal to the Iraqi Governing Council stationed in southern Iraq have been forbidden from inspecting or supervising the transportation of these consignments. He went on to say that the occupation forces have ordered Iraqi officials to forward any questions on the issue to the coalition forces. Even the officials of the international relief organizations have informed the Iraqi officials that they would only accept responsibility for relief shipments which have been registered and managed by their organizations.

..more..

[havocmom]

1. when is shrub's press conference?

the malAdministration is gonna need a big story to kick the 9-11 Commission off page one today.

[jbfam4]

4. Bush resigns..........

Now that would be a really BIG story.

[havocmom]

7. I don't think they are that worried yet

but one does wonder what Cheney is doing in the Orient...

I can see announcement of Rice and/or Ashcroft leaving for health reasons {the neocons' health}

[drfemoe]

39. If As*croft

was evaluated for mental illness, I think they would have to strap him down for awhile. Any 'regular' person with those kind of delusions would be held under court order. I'm sure of it.

[damnraddem]

22. I remember LBJ's press conference in 1968.

But then, liar and manipulator that he was, LBJ had so much more integrity than Dubya. I think Dubya would hold out until the bitter end, and beyond.

[glasnost]

68. Its not up to Dubya - Rove is his brain

Combined with the rest of the team that did the 9/11 P2OG op. which must include Jeb, and the rest of PNAC team.
see
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4747953-107865,00.html
and
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1397956
The team may dump Dubya soon if the truth about 9/11 and USUK attack unravels and have a Dubya lite replacement who is distanced from the dubya disasters. Chomsky has labelled Kerry "Bush lite" He did vote for the USUK attack.
It may well be that the Democrats have chosen the wrong candidate.
He could for example have another encounter with a pretzel or such and excuse himself.
The shrub may well be pruned soon.

[Whoa_Nelly]

33. Which reporters are being allowed to ask questions?

This story needs to be sent to them, along with the previous stories regarding the secret arrival of WMD

[xultar]

2. This will be the October Surprise! Watch.... Bookmark this thread n/t

[tlcandie]

12. Agree...

:hi:

[northernsoul]

3. this is from an Iranian News Agency

so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm not saying it's necessarily false, but should be regarded with the same level of suspiscion you would give to any other "news" coming from a State Propaganda Organ (you know, like Fox News)

[smiley_glad_hands]

5. Exactly.

[NNN0LHI]

6. Wasn't it an Iranian newspaper that reported Saddam had been captured?

A few days before our media reported it I think? I still doubt this story. Too many spy satellites over Iraq to pull this off. I think it would be suicide to try and get away with it.

Don

[TheDebbieDee]

8. There may be a lot of spy satellites over Iraq.........

but who's controlling them? The Keystone Kops that are the * administration, that's who's controlling the spy satellites ;^)

[NNN0LHI]

13. France, Germany, Russia, China, and others all have them too n/t

[northernsoul]

23. and if the WMDs are actually functional

how long would it be before they really did fall into the hands of terrorists?

None of our supply lines are safe now - the only place they could actually place the WMDs safely would be right within the Green Zone, where it would be pretty damn hard to claim that they'd "just now" found them (after a year of sitting right on top of them)

[leQ]

9. the nameservers aren't resolving mehrnews

can anybody get there?

[Minstrel Boy]

10. Here's the link to the Tehran Times story:

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=4/13/2004&Cat=4&Num=013

[54anickel]

14. I am a bit suspicious, but there isn't much of anything that I'd put past

this bunch of arrogant SOBs these days.

[Earth_First]

11. Saddam is no longer...

...so why don't these Iraqi scientists just let the information flow?

Right, because they don't exist...

[stellanoir]

15. Franken & his resident "dittohead"

were just speculating on this possibility as I was reading this article. They were wondering why it hadn't already happenned. I forwarded it to Franken's address at AAR. But if anyone has any better access to the show please alert them just in case it's true.
Haven't received confirmation of registration so I can't post on
their forums yet.

[RainDog]

16. it was an Iranian who first outed the Bushies

about the October Surprise, followed by a French diplomat.

not to say that makes this one true, but just to say that the last place you hear any truth in America over the last two decades is via the American press/media.

the same is true about the CIA helping to ship drugs into the U.S. during the whole Contra era. The San Jose Mercury News was trashed by mainstream outlets, and when the SJM News turned out to be correct, little was heard from the mainstream press apologizing for trying to kill the messenger.

This nation is seriously, seriously sick right now, with an administration which has shown it is willing to kill to gain political points, both via Iraq and with the Valerie Plame incident.

I don't put anything past them.

[stopthegop]

24. the SJM News wasn't correct...n/t

[Zhade]

42. Oh? Do tell.

In fact, some links to credible sources that support your allegation would be welcome.

I await your proof...

[drfemoe]

70. What is the source for your statement?

Personal opinion? News link? Rush? Please elaborate.

[Tinoire]

17. Let me guess... These are the containers the mercenaries were

guarding?

Food shipments my ass. Nobody is paying mercenaries $1000/day to "guard food shipments".

[Hell Hath No Fury]

18. Yup, $1000 a day is to pay for the "extra" services....

provided by those types of folks.

[54anickel]

38. Ewww, and the "kitchen equipment" they were moving, and why that

private security firm - what's their name Blacksomething? - were doing their OWN investigation into what happened to those 4 "security contractors". Can't have our troops stumble onto what's really going on. Could be. :shrug: :tinfoilhat:

[calimary]

55. Blackwater USA. JEEZ - this is making me shudder.

[reprobate]

19. Don't think the WMDs will last long.

With this appearing in the tehran news, everyone in the region will know of it shortly. Could it be that's why the insurgents are going after the convoys now?

[Tommy_Douglas]

21. Wow that'd be just fantastic....

No WMD's in Iraq so they ship some in and terrorists nab them. Brilliant!

Just imagine how that would be spun...

[RummyTheDummy]

65. Not as brilliant as the French capturing Bin Laden

Oh the sweet, delicious irony.

[TeeYiYi]

20. If this turns out to be true . . .

. . . it won't be the first time that this sort of thing has been reported.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/06/266752.shtml

TYY

[feistydem]

25. Well, they took long enough!

Without crediting Tehran with objectivity or integrity when it comes to the United States... I've been wondering when the Iraq "coalition" forces (aka, us) would plant the WMDs, weren't you all?

Let's face it, there are no meddlesome press over there keeping an eye on things, no UN presence, nobody objective to report back (and those that do from the foreign press agencies are targeted with munitions).

We've been lied to from the start, why wouldn't they just keep lying?

[ultramega]

31. That's what I thought.

I was STUNNED when David Kay said "We we're wrong."

I didn't know republicans could say those words.

I never expected them to admit it, and I am still kind of surprised they did.

Why did they admit it? It seems like they could have left the inspectors there till the end of this year if they wanted too.
Doesnt' make sense.

[Zhade]

43. Kay was a limited hang-out, though.

They weren't "wrong". They lied.

Kay was, at best, admitting part of the "truth" to conceal the larger reality: that Hussein didn't have WMD - something I and many others who listened to people like Scott Ritter didn't get wrong.

The whole WMD issues was, and remains, a red herring. Even if Hussein had possessed everything the b*sh administration claimed he had, a "preventative" strike would not have been justified unless the missiles were about to be launched at America and this could be shown via independent verification.

The whole WMD angle is a great logic trap, because it ignores the fact that illegally invading and occupying a country that poses no threat but happens to have weapons is still an illegal act.

[BostonTeaParty04]

26. Oh I get it: newsflash: SADR had the WMDs all the time!!!!!!!

Watch and listen to tonight very carefully.

Can you imagine:

"we have intelligence that Sadr has the WMDs ... he was hiding them in IRAN in a mosque... and we have intelligence that the WMDs have reentered Iraq.... and Well,....we have to bring in lots and lots more troops and air missiles and please be brave, America, Be brave. We must make sacrifices for freedom and democracy against this evildoer Sadr...."

[DoNotRefill]

27. Come on....

Bush has taken UNBELIEVABLE heat on the WMD issue in Middle America. If the US Government was going to plant WMDs, they'd have been "found" long ago by third parties, if for no other reason than to stop Bush's slide in the polls.

[Judi Lynn]

28. Hope articles like this might be able to keep them from pulling it off

if only enough people know about it in advance...

From the first article:

A source close to the Iraqi Governing Council said, “In the meantime, many suspect containers disguised as fuel supplies have been moved about by some units of the U.S. special forces. The move has been carried out under heavy security measures. Also, there are unofficial reports that the containers held biological and bacteriological toxins in liquid form. It is possible that the news about the discovery of the WMDs would be announced later.”

He also said that such mixtures had been used by the Saddam regime in the 1990s.

The source added that some provocative actions such as the closure of Al-Hawza periodical by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer, the secret meetings between his envoys with some extremist groups who have no relations with the Iraqi Governing Council, the sudden upsurge in violence in central and southern Iraq, a number of activities which have stoked up the wrath of the prominent Shia clerics, and finally, the spate of kidnappings and the baseless charges against the Iranian charge d’affaires in Baghdad are providing the necessary smokescreen for the transportation of the WMD to their intended locations.

He said they are quite aware that the White House in cooperation with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has directly tasked the Defense Department to hide these weapons. Given the recent scandals to the effect that the U.S. president was privy to the 9/11 plot, they might try to immediately announce the discovery of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in order to overshadow the scandals and prevent a further decline of Bush’s public opinion rating as the election approaches.
(snip/)

Thanks a lot for this. I surely hope they can't slip it past everyone sucessfully.

[revree]

29. PRINT OUT AND KEEP COPIES...

To show our stupid right wing family members and friends that we saw it coming first...

[robertpaulsen]

30. Kicking for flames sake.

This story must be spread!

[Whoa_Nelly]

50. Email it to Al Franken

Al Franken, [e-mail],

Larry Flynt, [e-mail]

Michael Moore, [e-mail]

John Kerry, [e-mail]

and anybody else you can think of

[calimary]

56. Other good contacts and links: Check the following thread...

Please note, here, The World's Greatest Lists of Media Contacts - not one but TWO of 'em - in the following thread:

LINK:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1380003

IF THEY THINK WE DON’T CARE, THEY WON’T, EITHER!

[Failure]

32. Planted WMD's

Do you suppose that smirk will announce they "found" WMD's in Iraq? Has anyone sent this off to network news?

[Whoa_Nelly]

34. After listening to * speech and his spin on WMD

and hearing him say something like...'Who knows? Maybe they'll be found on a turkey farm.', I wrote to Kerry, Al Franken and MoveOn.org., passing along all the links on the articles regarding what has yet to be reported on by the mainstream media. Seems that the news agencies here don't care to or won't follow this particular story...seems pointless to send this to news agencies in the US. When this story first broke in 2003, and again earlier this year, I contacted everybody, re: news agencies. Hopefully, this will get out to someone with the cojones to take up this story and make it available to the US public.
* made references tonight about having confidence that WMD will be found. This news has to get out to the people who can stop the machine that winds up this puppet to do their dirty work.

[drfemoe]

40. turkey farm?

like the plastic turkey farm? How coy. Isn't that cute?

The reason it seems like the world has gone mad is because IT HAS!!

[Whoa_Nelly]

51. Transcript: President Bush's press conference

<snip>
..."That's why we've sent up the independent commission. I look forward to hearing the truth, exactly where they are. They could still be there. They could be hidden, like the 50 tons of mustard gas in a turkey farm. * "heh-heh'ed" with a smirk like he had said something cute.

He was making a "funny" because just a few minutes before he had said, "... By the way, they found, I think, 50 tons of mustard gas, I believe it was, in a turkey farm, only because he was willing to disclose where the mustard gas was.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3560503&thesection=news&thesubsection=world


So, in referencing his previous statement, he thought it was funny, it was to smirk.

[Barrett808]

35. I can't believe this would work

Bush has alienated the intelligence agencies to the point that I'd expect an immediate leak if the BFEE tried this. Some agency or other might actually frame him by intentionally botching the job.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

36. Wasn't there a story of friendly fire botching an attempt to plant during

the official invasion of Iraq?

I remember that there was a lot of friendly fire casualties that had been from a discovered effort to plant wmd.

Any one else remember this?

[DoNotRefill]

37. If I had a dollar for every story I've read about the US planting WMDs...

I'd be rich. Before I could give such stories even a scintilla of credibility, I'd need to see the Bush Administration CLAIM TO HAVE ACTUALLY FOUND WMDS. Or are the tinfoilhatters saying we smuggled them into the country, and then smuggled them out? If we did that, WHY did we do that? What possible plausible reason is there for the US Gocernment to have done that?

Without a claim being put forward by the US government that we've actually found WMDs, it's preposterous for others to claim that the US Government planted the WMDs. If we planted them, we would have found them, wouldn't we? I mean Hellfire, if we planted them, we'd know where they are, wouldn't we?

At this time, claiming that the US Government planted WMDs has exactly as much credibility as claiming that Elvis is actually a Grey Alien, currently residing in Tucson or Alpha Centauri.

[drfemoe]

41. just because there are eye witnesses

that's no reason to believe it, right?

To poster above -- yes, there have been recent reports of 'losing' the plants due to a 'friendly fire' incident. Links on DU somewhere...

[DoNotRefill]

46. The question is....

are the eyewitnesses CREDIBLE?

Elvis is routinely sighted by "eyewitnesses". That doesn't mean he's really still alive, does it?

And if the planted WMDs were lost due to "friendly fire", how exactly would that work? I mean, if there really ARE WMDs being planted, SOMEBODY would know about it, right? It's not like your average E-3 has WMDs available to them to plant, right? And if the people planting them were killed by a "friendly fire" incident, the people who sent out the planters would know who had them, right? Don't you think they might be able to find the bodies? Or did the entire unit and everybody involved with planting the WMDs ALL get killed in the friendly fire incident, even the people at the WMD storage sites in the US? Or when the "friendly fire" incident happened, did the WMDs miraculously grow wings and fly away after the planters died? If there was a "friendly fire" incident that killed the people planting the WMDs, wouldn't the people who recovered the bodies have recovered the WMDs too?

I've yet to see a SINGLE piece of credible evidence that WMDs were planted. Given that we haven't claimed to have FOUND WMDs, it's quite implausible that there have been any WMDs planted. There's been more than enough time for planted WMDs to be discovered. If you want to accuse the US Government of planting WMDs, PLEASE have some kind of credible evidence to suggest that such a thing happened. An excellent start to proving WMDs were planted would be the US actually FINDING WMDs. Until that happens, you're figuratively pissing in the wind, and have no more credibility than the person who claims they saw Elvis last week working as the manager of a KFC in Tucson.

[drfemoe]

48. consider

Paid contractors who are not given military 'intelligence' and a military who is not appraised of private contractor activities. No one said the MILITARY was planting. There are almost 20,000 PRIVATE operatives there. Not really that hard to imagine.

I hope it isn't true. It would be just more evidence that TPTB believe 'average' folks are DUPES. I'm not willing to dismiss eyewitness reports. As I understand it, also, the planting 'may' still be underway. We'll just have to wait and see.

What would you think if we DID find WMDs at this late date? Did they just get overlooked during the hundreds of other searches?

[DoNotRefill]

63. So...

you're suggesting the US government turned over WMDs to mercenaries? Somehow, that strikes me as being pretty implausible, but I'm only basing this on 18 years of observing how the government (and their military and paramilitaries) works first-hand.

Under Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton, one of my side-businesses dealt with supplying government agents and agencies with equipment of a specialized military and law enforcement nature on a small scale. This brought me into direct contact with a lot of SF types both in and out of the military, preparing for official government-sanctioned deployment. Despite the fact that the gear I was selling to them (it's called "local procurement", and applies to small items which generally aren't big enough to merit a real acquisition contract) was 100% for approved purposes, all parties involved had the required clearances, written permission from their Chain of Command, et cetera, it took practically forever to get all the paperwork to go through. I got to be on a first name basis with several of my congresspeople in cases when there was a real time-crunch and the red tape was taking so long as to actually threaten the availability of equipment required for the deployment.

There's no way in hell that the Government would allow WMDs into the hands of private contractors with LESS red tape to cut than I had to deal with. And that makes the idea of the US Government actually trying to plant this kind of stuff a virtual impossibility, since maintaining some kind of secrecy would be unworkable.

[G_j]

44. despite the speculation

there are some elements in the story that raise some questions.

"The Iraqi source also confirmed the report about suspicious trucks with fake Saudi and Jordanian license plates entering Iraq at night last week, stressing that the Saudi and Jordanian border guards did not attempt to inspect the trucks but simply delivered them to the U.S. and British forces stationed on Iraq’s borders."

This taken along with reports of other 'disguised' containers makes it appear that there has been something suspicious going on.
:shrug:

[DoNotRefill]

47. There are inconsistencies in the article.

If local officials are not being allowed to inspect the containers, how did the source know what was in them?

How would the source be able to tell that the plates were fake? Did they pull them over for a routine traffic stop and run the plates or something? And why would your average border guard check what was being shipped OUT of the country? I thought their role was generally to inspect what was coming INTO the country, not leaving it.

Are we to believe that the Special Forces didn't allow the local officials to inspect the containers, but DID allow the sources to inspect them? Would the Special Forces types protecting the shipment leave them unguarded so that somebody could sneek a peek inside the Conexes?

It's simply preposterous, and hasn't risen above the level of completely unsubstantiated gossip.

[Whoa_Nelly]

49. Just wondering...

Did you read the earlier article?
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0313-08.htm

[DoNotRefill]

57. I just read it...

and it's entirely based upon one "reliable source", with no explanation of how the "reliable source" got the information or what kinds of information the "source" has given in the past which has been found to be "reliable".

Given the information in the article, and the fact that it's based only on the unsworn anonymous testimony of one "reliable witness", and with NO verifiable corroboration of ANY kind, it wouldn't be enough to support even a determination that probable cause (which is a pretty lax judicial standard, one of the lowest, in fact) exists in a US court.

In other words, the information included in the article isn't even enough to get a search warrant, much less a conviction, even if the accused wasn't the US government but some common criminal.

[Zhade]

45. Al Martin had a piece about it.

I don't honestly know what to think of Al Martin. I don't have much info on him. But he did cover what you're talking about months ago.

It's probably in the archives, but since I'm not a subscriber, I don't have a link. :shrug:

[BattyDem]

52. Wasn't there an article in an Egyptian newspaper last year ...

about the US planting WMDs? I vaguely recall it. Does anyone else remember that?

I'll look through my bookmarks and other saved info and see if I can find it. :)

[BattyDem]

53. Ok ... I found what I was looking for

I was mistaken. It wasn't Egypt. Don't know why I thought it was ... I must have been thinking of something else.

Anyway, it was Pakistan and India. The Pakistan article lists Al Martin as its source, but the article from India is different. It's about Russia's suspicion that the US will plant WMDs.


"US tried to plant WMDs, failed: whistleblower"
Source: The Daily Times
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_12-8-2003_pg1_9


"US may 'fabricate' WMD evidence in Iraq: Russia"
Source: The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/41481113.cms?

[drfemoe]

64. so much to keep up with

.. now I remember a military person or weapons inspector (it's late.. brain is slipping) who predicted shortly after the war began that there was a 60% chance that g-whoosh would plant WMDs. I've been searching for that AND something posted several days ago about losing one batch to 'friendly fire'.

If gossip and speculation can prevent a possible implementation of plants, all to the good. I'd rather be *wrong* about this than *right*.

[2Design]

54. story sounds credible given that both rums and bush have said we may still

story sounds credible given that both rums and bush have said we may still find WMD. Both have said that in the last month. So this sounds very credible. And if it backfired and got in the hands of the IRAQs we are in bigger trouble.

Right now the Iraqiis want to be free and truly liberated....during wwII when the troops liberated they didn't stick around shooting everyone......civilians....

We have had insurgents yes, but we have killed a lot of civilians once there.....but being on edge.....which is understandable....but given people some control over the own lives....

I mean we went in and totally destroyed their infrastructure and look at how badly many of us took the blackout of several days when the electric grid went out last year......living under those conditions does not breed niceness......

Having guys running around with guns and shooting your relatives and children and camera men......I am sure does not make the iraqiis feel very safe....

Seems we could have done this differently......without blowing the whole place up.......the 'shock and awe' title was a bit arrogant... any way back to the WMD.....

Bush and CO. has a vested interest in coming up with some so that their regime may have a chance.....unfortunately there still seems to be a lot of people believing those ads...

I am rambling....glad to have found a board for progressive values.

[DoNotRefill]

58. Heh...

"Right now the Iraqiis want to be free and truly liberated....during wwII when the troops liberated they didn't stick around shooting everyone......civilians...."

The Germans and Japanese after WWII didn't shoot at American troops generally, and IIRC, we still have troops stationed in both countries, just not as an occupying force.

[burrowowl]

59. Welcome to DU, 28erl!

:hi:
Boo$hie's remark, paired with the story. Are the WMD going to be discovered soon?

[peace4all]

61. welcome to DU 28erl !

:toast:

[Dover]

60. In a recent interview Chalabi lectured Diane Sawyer,

(paraphrasing)

"Don't act so sure there are no WMD or you will look like a fool when they are found".

Let's face it. Bushco is desperate and it's the ONLY way to dig themselves out of this deep hole they are in...
So I assume they will risk being found out, and will attempt to plant them. I just hope a reuters reporter is hiding in the bushes nearby.

[peace4all]

62. could find 'em on a turkey farm

If they could away with planting WMD, there is no doubt in my mind they would.

[Stockholm]

66. It´s easy to trace

the origin of most WMD:s. No one will buy a sudden "find" by rumsfelds clowns and will demand to have the opportunity to test the weapons before saying anything.

This is a bit sad as weapons inspectors very well could find some old stockpiles of nerve agents - they would however probably be of US origin anyhow, since the US supplied strings to Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war.

You are damned if you do and damned if you don´t...

[0007]

67. btt

[glasnost]

69. No, planted weapons not needed.

The invented story is the "foreign" fighters in Iraq... (US troops are foreign fighters, but ) meaning Iranians and Syrians and Hezbullah.
This story is necessary to cover the US military failure to win the peace and move to on the next PNAC objectives, "pre-emptive" attacks on Iran and Syria.
This will be the distraction from the failures in Iraq and from the success of PNAC's 9/11 P2OG op.
In reality it is of course a home grown resistance to USUK occupation, as all Americans would resist if they had Muslim Arabs trying to run US, bombing churches and occupying The White House.
There are multiple reports of US troops shooting women and children in Falluja, 700 killed, most are women and children.
eg.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040426&s=jamail
Creating more terrorists than ever dreamt of by the wildest Carlyle arms salesman must be a deliberate ploy to grow the arms corps profits and those of the military suppliers, the killing biz.