|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Iraq Survey Group Report to Have New Information on Prewar Iraq’s WMD Intent, U.S. Senator Says By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — The next report of the Iraq Survey Group, the military unit searching for evidence of Iraq’s alleged prewar WMD efforts, will contain “a good deal of new information” on former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s intentions to produce weapons of mass destruction, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Va.) said yesterday (see GSN, July 1). “I’m not suggesting dramatic discoveries, but incrementally, steady bits and pieces that show that Saddam Hussein was clearly defying the United Nations security regulations, mandates, and that he and his government had a continuing interest in maintaining the potential to shift to the production of various types of weapons of mass destruction in a short period of time,” Warner said. Both the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency yesterday refused to comment on what new information may be included in the next ISG report. While the Iraq Survey Group was previously expected to release its next report in August, that report is now set to come out in September, according to Warner. He made his brief remarks following a closed committee hearing that heard from former ISG head Army Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton on the unit’s activities. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Joseph McMenamin, in what was described as a routine rotation, has since replaced Dayton as ISG director. McMenamin oversees the daily activities of the unit and reports to chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq Charles Duelfer. Warner said that Dayton’s briefing indicated that there was still “concern” in Iraq that lingering aspects of Hussein’s past WMD efforts remain to be found. Such remnants include both pre-1991 Gulf War weapons and the “remnants of what he was doing himself here in the last several years,” Warner said. Last month, Duelfer said that more than 10 pre-1991 chemical munitions have been found so far in Iraq. The survey group, however, has found no evidence of large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Warner also said that former senior Iraqi officials now facing trials on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including Hussein himself, may provide useful information to aid the WMD search. In addition to the former Iraqi president, the 11 other senior officials indicted for war crimes include Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as “Chemical Ali” for his use of chemical weapons against Iraq’s Kurdish population; former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan; and former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Dayton also told the committee that he has worked closely with the new Iraqi government, which has “expressed interest” in the ISG’s activities, Warner said. “Clearly, it’s to the benefit of the new government to work with this group because it would be a frightful situation if remnants of the WMD program fell into the hands of terrorists and were utilized in the insurgency movement,” Warner added.
| ||||||||||
Back to top
