'No WMD stockpile find' in Iraq

[yasin_khan]

Bush administration officials say a draft report has concluded there were no stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction to be found in Iraq.
However, they say the report does claim there is evidence that Saddam Hussein intended to resurrect his weapons programmes in the future.

The report, which is not yet finished, is being written by top US weapons inspector Charles Duelfer.

It is expected to be completed and published within weeks.

The first draft of Mr Duelfer's report appears to back the view of his predecessor, David Kay.

Mr Kay said, when he stepped down in January, that "we were probably all wrong about whether Iraq had stockpiles of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons".

Poison

But though he has found no stockpiles, Mr Duelfer is said by officials in the Bush administration to have unearthed other evidence.

They say the evidence shows Iraq was developing test amounts of chemical weapons and researching how to produce the poison ricin, perhaps for assassinations rather than mass killings.

There is also said to be evidence that Iraq intended to reinstitute full weapons of mass destruction programmes in the future.

The document will stop short of offering a final judgement about the situation before the war.

It might leave open the possibility that illicit weapons could have been moved to other countries.

With more than 10,000 boxes of documents still to be translated and studied, the Iraq Survey Group will continue its work, the official said, and may have more to say in the future.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3664838.stm

 

[yasin_khan]

Iran nuclear resolution 'agreed'

The US says it has reached agreement with France, Britain and Germany on a draft UN resolution calling for Iran to end its uranium enrichment programme.
The text says the UN's atomic agency should decide in November whether to take further action against Iran.

It comes a day after a US nuclear monitor published satellite images of an Iranian weapons facility it said may be used for work on nuclear arms.

Iran dismissed the allegations as lies aimed at deceiving the UN agency.

Diplomats were quoted as saying the US agreed to drop its demands for a 31 October ultimatum to Iran in the agreed new draft resolution.

Instead, it calls on Iran to clear up "outstanding issues" with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) before the board meets in November.

It asks IAEA boss Mohamed ElBaradei to submit a report reviewing the past two years of inspections in Iran.

And it keeps open the option of "further steps" if Iran fails to comply with IAEA demands, which could include taking Tehran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

'Peaceful purposes'

The resolution was put forward by Europe's so-called Big Three - Britain, France and Germany. An earlier version proposed by the US, Canada and Australia had sought an October deadline.

The new draft still has to be approved by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

The issue was thrown into the spotlight again this week with the release of satellite images of the Parchin military complex, south-east of Tehran.

They show buildings that could be used to test nuclear bomb components, the Institute for Science and International Security said.

"This is a new lie, like the last 13 lies based on news reports that have been proved to be lies," Hossein Mousavian, Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA board meeting, said.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3664660.stm

 

[P.A.F]

maybe the UN should sort out isreal first so that iran can see off the threat isreal poses to it. otherwise iran should tell the UN and it's hench men to ******* and it should carry on.

 

[yasin_khan]

UN urges Iran to halt enrichment

The International Atomic Energy Agency has passed a resolution calling on Iran to suspend a key process that can be used to make nuclear weapons.
The agency's board of governors wants the country to freeze all activities related to uranium enrichment.

Iran is also required to grant access to IAEA inspectors and provide them with any further information needed.

The resolution imposes an indirect deadline of 25 November, when the board is next due to meet.


The move follows several days of intense negotiations in Vienna.

The talks centred on allegations, voiced in the United States and elsewhere, that Iran's nuclear enrichment programme could be used to make material for nuclear weapons.

The US, Britain, France and Germany submitted the resolution, which expresses serious concern that Tehran has not heeded previous calls to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

The resolution also asks the head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, to submit reports reviewing Iran's co-operation with the agency.

But other board members have expressed reservations over the resolution and Iran insists on its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.

The UN nuclear watchdog keeps open the option of further steps if Iran fails to comply with IAEA demands that could include taking Tehran before the UN Security Council.

Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful and not a matter for the UN.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3669008.stm

 

[webmaster]

Lets not mix Iran with Iraq.

 

[yasin_khan]

maybe the UN should sort out isreal first so that iran can see off the threat isreal poses to it. otherwise iran should tell the UN and it's hench men to ******* and it should carry on.

PAF that is a dream for all the Muslim Countries.UN will never sort out Israel but Israel will sort out Iran just like she had done it with Iraq.

 

[srirangan]

>>
>> maybe the UN should sort out isreal first so that iran can see off the
>> threat isreal poses to it. otherwise iran should tell the UN and it's
>> hench men to ******* and it should carry on.
>>

DO you really think Iran has so much clout. Acting rebellious and "screw the world" mentality won't work for Iran. She has to be tactful about it and should befriend important countries who can save her from an US invasion. The US/UK invasion is going to come, like it or not it will happen. Iran is prolonging it by aiding the guriella war in Iraq so that hte US remains "occupied".

She is also trying to befriend countries like Russia France etc. but sisnce when did US start listening to these countries. Iran has to walk a tight rope, if I was an Iranian I'ld put all my efforts in bringing about a civil war in Iraq so that the US never has the military resources available to pursue Iran. This is what is exactly happening.

 

[The Watcher]

just going back to the topic here NO WMDs in iraq!!! :lol


------------

Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict

Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday September 18, 2004

The Guardian

The comprehensive 15-month search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has concluded that the only chemical or biological agents that Saddam Hussein's regime was working on before last year's invasion were small quantities of poisons, most likely for use in assassinations.
A draft of the Iraq Survey Group's final report circulating in Washington found no sign of the alleged illegal stockpiles that the US and Britain presented as the justification for going to war, nor did it find any evidence of efforts to reconstitute Iraq's nuclear weapons programme.

It also appears to play down an interim report which suggested there was evidence that Iraq was developing "test amounts" of ricin for use in weapons. Instead, the ISG report says in its conclusion that there was evidence to suggest the Iraqi regime planned to restart its illegal weapons programmes if UN sanctions were lifted.

Charles Duelfer, the head of the ISG, has said he intends to deliver his final report by the end of the month. It is likely to become a heated issue in the election campaign.

President George Bush now admits that stockpiles have not been found in Iraq but claimed as recently as Thursday that "Saddam Hussein had the capability of making weapons, and he could have passed that capability on to the enemy".

The draft Duelfer report, according to the New York Times, finds no evidence of a capability, but only of an intention to rebuild that capability once the UN embargo had been removed and Iraq was no longer the target of intense international scrutiny.

The finding adds weight to Mr Bush's assertions on the long-term danger posed by the former Iraqi leader, but it also suggests that, contrary to the administration's claims, diplomacy and containment were working prior to the invasion.

The draft report was handed to British, US and Australian experts at a meeting in London earlier this month, according to the New York Times. It largely confirms the findings of Mr Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, who concluded "we were almost all wrong" in thinking Saddam had stockpiled weapons. The Duelfer report goes into greater detail.

Mr Kay's earlier findings mentioned the existence of a network of laboratories run by the Iraqi intelligence service, and suggested that the regime could be producing "test amounts" of chemical weapons and researching the use of ricin in weapons.

Subsequent inspections of the clandestine labs, under Mr Duelfer's leadership, found they were capable of producing small quantities of lethal chemical and biological agents, more useful for assassinations of individuals than for inflicting mass casualties.

Mr Duelfer, according to the draft, does not exclude the possibility that some weapons materials could have been smuggled out of Iraq before the war, a possibility raised by the administration and its supporters. However, the report apparently produces no significant evidence to support the claim. Nor does it find any evidence of any action by the Saddam regime to convert dual-use industrial equipment to weapons production.

"I think we know exactly how this is going to play out," said Joseph Cirincione, a proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"You'll see a very elaborate spin operation. But there's not much new here from what the ISG reported before," he said. "There are still no weapons, no production of weapons and no programmes to begin the production of weapons. What we're left with here is that Saddam Hussein might have had the desire to rebuild the capability to build those weapons."

"Well, lots of people have desire for these weapons. Lots of people have intent. But that's not what we went to war for."

The motives for war, meanwhile, came under fresh scrutiny last night as the Telegraph reported that Tony Blair was warned in Foreign Office papers a year before the invasion of the scale of dealing with a post-Saddam Iraq.

The Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Menzies Campbell, said that if authenticated, the papers "demonstrate that the government agreed with the Bush administration on regime change in Iraq more than a year before military action was taken".

Mr Duelfer, who is reported to still be in Baghdad, did not respond to a request for an interview on the question of WMD yesterday.

Earlier this year, he told the Guardian that he expected his report would leave "some unanswered questions".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1307529,00.html

 

[Pathfinder-X]

Doesn't suprise me that no WMD has been found. It's only an excuse to go to war. Bush claimed that Iraq was helping to Al-Qaeda, but no evidence of connection has ever been found. Bush said Iraq had large quantity of chemical and biological weapons, none were found. Bush said he gave the Iraqis a better enviroment, when Iraqis find it harder to live now than under Saddam. Bush said mission accomplished more than a year ago, almost 850 U.S servicemen have died since then. You still want to hear what Bush has to say?

 

[yasin_khan]

Iran Vows to Continue Nuclear Program, Even Without U.N.

Iran staged its annual show of military might Sept. 21, with President Mohammad Khatami vowing the Islamic republic will push on with its controversial nuclear program even if it means risking international isolation.

Khatami’s warning came as Iran showed off its range of ballistic missiles draped in banners vowing to “crush America†and “wipe Israel off the map.â€

The president said the international community had to “acknowledge our natural and legal right and open the path for understanding … so we can accept comprehensive international supervision and we can continue our path to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.â€
â€Otherwise we will continue on this path even if the result is the cutting off of international supervision,†he told a parade marking the beginning of “Sacred Defense Week,†the anniversary of the outbreak of war with Iraq in 1980.

â€We have made our choice and it is now the turn of others to chose,†he said in a response to a tough resolution passed on Saturday by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Vienna-based body has demanded that Iran halt its controversial uranium enrichment-related activities, a part of the nuclear fuel cycle that can be directed to both energy and weapons purposes.

Nuclear fuel cycle work, including enrichment, is permitted under the Non-Proliferation Treaty if it is for peaceful purposes — but the IAEA wants such activities here stopped pending the completion of its investigation.

The United States, in particular, accuses Iran of using the atomic-energy drive as a cover for weapons development, and is seeking to have the country hauled before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

But in his speech, the reformist president repeated denials that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.

â€If we are under supervision or not, we will in no way try to acquire nuclear weapons because it is against our religion and culture. We are opposed to nuclear weapons,†he said.

The military parade, held near the mausoleum of Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruholloh Khomeini on the southern outskirts of Tehran, featured ballistic missiles, tanks and militiamen on off-road motorcycles.

A banner stating “Israel must be wiped off the map†was draped on the side of a Shahab-2 missile, while a banner saying “We will crush America under our feet†was on the side of a trailer carrying the latest Shahab-3 missile.

â€The Shahab-3 missiles, with different ranges, enable us to destroy the most distant targets,†said an official commentary accompanying the parade, which was carried live on state television.

â€These missiles enable us to destroy the enemy with missile strikes,†the commentary said, without giving any specific details on the range of the missiles.

The Shahab-3 is Iran’s most advanced missile, and is touted as being capable of hitting arch-enemy Israel.

Khatami also used his speech to lash out at Israel, widely believed to be nuclear armed but not subject to IAEA controls because it is not a signatory of the NPT.

â€The Zionist regime has transformed its small part of land into the biggest warhouse of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons,†Khatami complained, calling Israel’s mere existence “a threat not only to the region but the entire world.â€

Khatami is the latest of a string of officials here who have refused to surrender sensitive nuclear technology.

Hassan Rowhani, a conservative cleric and top national security official charged with handling the nuclear issue, has also threatened to halt stringent IAEA inspections if the issue was referred to the U.N. Security Council.

But he said Iran could accept a suspension of fuel cycle work the IAEA wants “through negotiations.â€

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=365963&C=mideast

 

[srirangan]

wrong thread mate!

 

[yasin_khan]

1 YEAR UNTIL IRAN NUKES
"Some American analysts warn that there is only a year or so left to stop Iran from achieving nuclear self-sufficiency. After that, they say, the country will have the means to create a nuclear arsenal without outside help, forever altering the Middle East balance of power."

That's the depressing prognosis from today's New York Times, in an article about Tehran's announcement "that it had begun converting tons of uranium into gas, a crucial step in making fuel for a nuclear reactor or a nuclear bomb."


http://64.207.156.228/

 

[webmaster]

Yasin, do you even read the subjects of the thread? This is thread is about IRAQ not Iran!!!