7 February 2003 US Plans for Use of Gas in Iraq Poses major threat to chemical weapons controls (Austin and Hamburg, 7 February 2003) - Top US military planners are preparing for the US to use incapacitating biochemical weapons in an invasion of Iraq. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed the plans in February 5th testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee. This is the first official US acknowledgement that it may use (bio)chemical weapons in its crusade to rid other countries of such weapons. The Sunshine Project and other nonprofits have warned since late 2001 that the "War on Terrorism" may result in the United States using prohibited biological and chemical armaments, thereby violating the same treaties it purports to defend. The US announcement creates grave concerns for the future of arms control agreements, particularly the Chemical Weapons Convention. Rumsfeld stated that plans are being made for multiple applications, including use of gas or aerosols on unarmed Iraqi civilians, in caves, and on prisoners. Rumsfeld reiterated the confusing, typical US official language about so-called "non-lethal" biochemical weapons. Rumsfeld described applications of a "riot agent" that clearly imply the complete incapacitation of victims, combatant and non-combatant, in armed conflict - a definition and usages that are at odds with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Rumsfeld acknowledged US ratification of the CWC but expressed "regret" about its restrictions, stating that the US has "tangled ourselves up so badly" on policy for use of incapacitating biochemical weapons. Rumsfeld indicated that - in his opinion - if President Bush signs a waiver of long-standing restrictions on US use of incapacitating chemicals, that the US will be able to legally field them in Iraq and elsewhere. http://www.sunshine-project.org/
Hey, pal, it's not the same kind of gas your pal SH used. Take a good look and then reread your pro-Saddam crap again:
Ah yes, the gas used by Saddam against the Iranians and the Iranian-backed Kurds, with the full blessing and support of the USA... As I recall, Rumsfeld was busy selling Saddam a heapload of WMDs at the time... Its kinda funny how the people that the USA fully supported to spread terror (Saddam, Osama) have suddenly become terrorists... The USA should stop whining about Osama... he is throwing back the terror into the face of the USA, basically the sort of stuff that the USA taught him... Osama and US foreign policy are simply two sides of the same miserable coin...
Really? You recall, do you? Sure, then feel free to post a link from a reputable source that gives your outrageous claim veracity.
Osama was trained well by the USA.... the USA should be PROUD of its creation!!! yeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhaaaaaaa!!! HAHAHA! Looks like the poor lill dirty dog Osama bit its criminal master's hand on Sept 11th.... ahhhhhhhhhhhh THEY DESERVE EACHOTHER! ROFL!!! Osama and the US foreign policy makers used to be buddies... looks like they had a massive falling out Why can't they all just get along?! ROFL!! I suggest Rummy makes peace with his former chum, and makes Osama head of Homeland Security... kinda like hiring hackers to prevent hacking, lol!
US BIOLOGICAL ARMS TO IRAQ A 1994 Senate Report, entitled "Arming Iraq: The Export of Biological Materials and the Health of Gulf War Veterans", underscores the biological threat possessed by the Iraqis. More often referred to as "the Riegle Report", named after its author, Donald J. Riegle, Jr, the Report itemises biological cultures supplied to Iraq by the US. Riegle and his team identified no less than 61 batches of biologically hazardous materials exported to Iraq. "Between the years 1985 and 1989, the United States Government approved the sales of quantities of potentially lethal biological agents that could have been cultured and grown in very large quantities in an Iraqi biological warfare program," Riegle stated. These included pathogenic materials, "which means disease-producing items, and toxigenic, meaning poisonous items."17 The Report added that "we were not able to get any records prior to 1985". Riegle then included an extract from a Department of Defense summary report written in 1992: "By the time of the invasion of Kuwait, Iraq had developed biological weapons. Its advanced and aggressive biological warfare program was the most advanced in the Arab world. The program probably began in the 1970s and concentrated on the development of two agents, botulinum toxin and anthrax bacteria... Delivery means for biological agents ranged from simple aerial bombs and artillery rockets to surface-to-surface missiles." http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=4696
Here is a direct quote from the report, not a paraphrased slant you conveniently provide: "3. The United States provided the Government of Iraq with "dual use" licensed materials which assisted in the development of Iraqi chemical, biological, and missile-system programs, including...:" These materials were certainly not exported for the purpose of poisonous gas manufacture.
...According to information obtained by the AGWVA, there is irrefutable evidence to show that the Unites States government provided and encouraged Iraqâs use of chemical weapons. The United States Department of Commerce and The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) provided at least 80 shipments of biological agents that were not attenuated (or weakened) and were capable of reproduction. These shipments included such virulent agents as Anthrax, West Nile Virus and Clostridium botulinum (S.R.103-900, May 25, 1994, pg. 264). The AGWVA also found it very disturbing to learn that on December 19, 1983, the Middle Eastern envoy who carried a handwritten note from President Reagan to Saddam Hussein, to âresume our diplomatic relations with Iraqâ was none other than our present Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. According to âU.S. Diplomatic and Commercial Relationships with Iraqâ, 1980-August 2, 2000, (www.cam.ac.uk/societies/casi/info/usdocs/usiraq80s90s.html), Nathaniel Hurd states: âIraq reportedly began using chemical weapons (CW) against Iranian troops in 1982, and significantly increased CW use in 1983⦠Shortly after removing Iraq from the terrorism sponsorship list, the Reagan administration approved the sale of 60 Hughes helicopters. Analysts recognized that âcivilianâ helicopters can be weaponized in a matter of hours and selling a civilian kit can be a way of giving military aid under the guise of civilian assistance.â ....critical piece of information is that according to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, in a December 15, 1986 article, the CIA began to secretly supply Iraq with intelligence in 1984 that was used to âcalibrateâ mustard gas attacks on Iranian troops. It is public record that the U.S. not only armed Iraq from 1983 thru August 1, 1990, but that they also provided the money to Iraq to purchase the weapons via the Atlanta branch of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL), George Bush, Sr., and the Export-Import Bank. Iraq received $5 Billion dollars funneled through the Commercial Credit Corporation ostensibly for food credits. It is also public information that at least $2 Billion dollars from the defaulted loan was repaid by the U.S. citizen taxpayers... more info: http://www.gulfwarvets.com/news11.htm for even more detailed info: Congressional Record (House of Representatives - February 03, 1992) Full text http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1992/h920203g.htm I hope the above would help to get some of the historical info in a more clear view for all concerned. peace Josh