4.4 | The
search for WMD
“What
has been established?
“Nuclear
Programmes
“The ISG
have found documents and equipment, related to Iraq’s pre-1991
nuclear
programme …
not declared to the UN/IAEA … Iraqi scientists and senior
officials
have stated
that Saddam intended to reconstitute such a programme once
sanctions
were
lifted. There is no evidence however, that Saddam explicitly
ordered that
research
activity should continue for this specific purpose.
“Chemical
and biological weapons
“The ISG
have found documents and equipment at 13 undeclared laboratories
and
facilities
… There is no clear evidence of a link to a military
programme.
“…
Legitimate work on biopesticides and other BW stimulants meant that
expertise
and
production techniques … were maintained …
“The exact
purpose of the two trailers discovered by the ISG in May 2003 has
yet to
be
determined …
“Delivery
systems
“… ISG have
found substantial evidence of research and design work on
longer
range
delivery systems (up to 1,000km range), and of substantial illegal
procurement
for all
aspects of Iraq’s missile programme …
“Concealment
and destruction
“Iraq had
failed to declare its programmes and equipment to the UN, and to
comply
with its
obligations under successive UNSCRs …
“In
addition … the ISG have found substantial evidence of the targeted
destruction
of
documents, equipment and computer files …
“What
is still to be done?
“… We do
not have a complete picture; the ISG continues with its work
despite the
difficult
operational environment …
“What
has not been established?
“The ISG
have not found chemical or biological weapons, agents or precursors
in
militarily
significant quantities, nor any long range missiles. They cannot
confirm the
existence
of active programmes for the development or production of chemical
or
biological
weapons, or of steps to reconstitute the nuclear programme, after
1998.
They have
found nothing to substantiate the repeated reports that WMD was
moved
from Iraq
into Syria, either before UNMOVIC arrived or immediately before,
during
and after
the conflict.
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