Bill said:
But SH did use a WMD on the Kurds in 1988.
And used them in the Iran-Iraq war before that, although
chemical/biological weapons are technically *not* weapons of mass
destruction.
Here's what the CIA had to say about SH use of chemical weapons against
the Kurds: (I found this on a public DoD website about Gulf War Syndrome)
DIRECTOR OF
CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE
IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS OF
CHEMICAL WEAPONS USE IN THE
IRAN-IRAQ WAR
(====================)
IRAQI USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS TO SUBDUE THE KURDISH
POPULATION INSIDE IRAQ, ALONG THE TRIBORDER AREA WITH
IRAN AND TURKEY, IS QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT FROM THE USE
OF CHEMICALS AGAINST ANOTHER COUNTRY. THE IRAQIS HAVE
PRIMARILY USED RIOT CONTROL AGENTS AND POSSIBLY, IN SOME
CASES, CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE KURDS TO MINIMIZE
THE DIVERSION OF TROOPS FROM MORE CRITICAL FRONTS AND THE
LOSSES THAT MIGHT OCCUR IN INACCESSIBLE AREAS THAT FAVOR
GUERRILLA FORCES.
(====================)
Chemical weapons are "mass casualty" weapons, weapons that sicken and
kill, but do very little damage to physical structures. A 500lb bomb is
a weapon of mass destruction; so is a truck bomb or an improvised
fuel-air munition; a chemical weapons is not.
But, regarding SH's use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war, and
the use of those weapons against the Kurds came in the context of that
war, there are some questions you should find answers to ...
Who sold SH the equipment to manufacture chemical weapons?
Who sold SH the materials needed, the basic chemical stocks?
Who provided the military intelligence; the wind & weather data
necessary for successful employment of chemical weapons; the "aerial"
photography of Iranian positions in Abadan and behind Khorramshahr, the
lines of trenches on the eastern side of the Karun river, the tank
revetments all the way up to the Turkish border; the real time data on
Iranian troop movements that allowed SH to attack Iranian forces with
chemical as well as conventional weapons?
This'll help you get started.
Excerpts from _"United States Chemical and Biological Warfare-related
Dual-use exports to Iraq and their possible impact on the Health
Consequences of the Persian Gulf War"_
http://www.gulfweb.org/report/riegle1.html
(====================)
In October 1992, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs,
which has Senate oversight responsibility for the Export Administration
Act (EAA), held an inquiry into the U.S. export policy to Iraq prior to
the Persian Gulf War. During that hearing it was learned that U.N.
inspectors identified many U.S. - manufactured items exported pursuant
to licenses issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce that were used to
further Iraq's chemical and nuclear weapons development and missile
delivery system development programs.
(====================)
U.S. Exports of Biological Materials to Iraq
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has
oversight responsibility for the Export Administration Act. Pursuant to
the Act, Committee staff contacted the U.S. Department of Commerce and
requested information on the export of biological materials during the
years prior to the Gulf War. After receiving this information, we
contacted a principal supplier of these materials to determine what, if
any, materials were exported to Iraq which might have contributed to an
offensive or defensive biological warfare program. Records available
from the supplier for the period from 1985 until the present show that
during this time, pathogenic (meaning "disease producing"), toxigenic
(meaning "poisonous"), and other biological research materials were
exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U.S.
Department of Commerce. Records prior to 1985 were not available,
according to the supplier. These exported biological materials were not
attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction. According to
the Department of Defense's own Report to Congress on the Conduct of the
Persian Gulf War, released in April 1992: "By the time of the invasion
of Kuwait, Iraq had developed biological weapons. It's advanced and
aggressive biological warfare program was the most advanced in the Arab
world... The program probably began late in the 1970's and concentrated
on the development of two agents, botulinum toxin and anthrax
bacteria... Large scale production of these agents began in 1989 at four
facilities in Baghdad. Delivery means for biological agents ranged from
simple aerial bombs and artillery rockets to surface-to-surface missiles."
Included in the approved sales are the following biological materials
(which have been considered by various nations for use in war), with
their associated disease symptoms:
Bacillus Anthracis: anthrax is a disease producing bacteria identified
by the Department of Defense in The Conduct of the Persian Gulf War:
Final Report to Congress, as being a major component in the Iraqi
biological warfare program.
Anthrax is an often fatal infectious disease due to ingestion of spores.
It begins abruptly with high fever, difficulty in breathing, and chest
pain. The disease eventually results in septicemia (blood poisoning),
and the mortality is high. Once septicemia is advanced, antibiotic
therapy may prove useless, probably because the exotoxins remain,
despite the death of the bacteria.
Clostridium Botulinum: A bacterial source of botulinum toxin, which
causes vomiting, constipation, thirst, general weakness, headache,
fever, dizziness, double vision, dilation of the pupils and paralysis of
the muscles involving swallowing. It is often fatal.
Histoplasma Capsulatum: causes a disease superfically resembling
tuberculosis that may cause pneumonia, enlargement of the liver and
spleen, anemia, an influenza like illness and an acute inflammatory skin
disease marked by tender red nodules, usually on the shins. Reactivated
infection usually involves the lungs, the brain, spinal membranes,
heart, peritoneum, and the adrenals.
Brucella Melitensis: a bacteria which can cause chronic fatique, loss of
appetite, profuse sweating when at rest, pain in joints and muscles,
insomnia, nausea, and damage to major organs.
Clostridium Perfringens: a highly toxic bateria which causes gas
gangrene. The bacteria produce toxins that move along muscle bundles in
the body killing cells and producing necrotic tissue that is then
favorable for further growth of the bacteria itself. Eventually, these
toxins and bacteria enter the bloodstream and cause a systemic illness.
In addition, several shipments of Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) and genetic
materials, as well as human and bacterial DNA, were shipped directly to
the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission.
The following is a detailed listing of biological materials, provided by
the American Type Culture Collection, which were exported to agencies of
the government of Iraq pursuant to the issuance of an export licensed by
the U.S. Commerce Department:
Date : February 8, 1985
Sent To : Iraq Atomic Energy Agency
Materials Shipped:
Ustilago nuda (Jensen) Rostrup
Date : February 22, 1985
Sent To : Ministry of Higher Education
Materials Shipped:
Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum (ATCC 32136)
Class III pathogen
Date : July 11, 1985
Sent To : Middle and Near East Regional A
Material Shipped:
Histoplasma capsulatum var. farciminosum (ATCC 32136)
Class III pathogen
Date : May 2, 1986
Sent To : Ministry of Higher Education
Materials Shipped:
1. Bacillus Anthracis Cohn (ATCC 10)
Batch # 08-20-82 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
2. Bacillus Subtilis (Ehrenberg) Cohn (ATCC 82)
Batch # 06-20-84 (2 each)
3. Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 3502)
Batch # 07-07-81 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
4. Clostridium perfringens (Weillon and Zuber) Hauduroy, et al
(ATCC 3624)
Batch # 10-85SV (2 each)
5. Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6051)
Batch # 12-06-84 (2 each)
6. Francisella tularensis var. tularensis Olsufiev (ATCC 6223)
Batch # 05-14-79 (2 each)
Avirulent, suitable for preparations of diagnotic antigens
7. Clostridium tetani (ATCC 9441)
Batch # 03-84 (3 each)
Highly toxigenic
8. Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC 9564)
Batch # 03-02-79 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
9. Clostridium tetani (ATCC 10779)
Batch # 04-24-84S (3 each)
10. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 12916)
Batch #08-14-80 (2 each)
Agglutinating type 2
11. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 13124)
Batch #07-84SV (3 each)
Type A, alpha-toxigenic, produces lecithinase C.J. Appl.
12. Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14185)
Batch #01-14-80 (3 each)
G.G. Wright (Fort Detrick)
V770-NP1-R. Bovine Anthrax
Class III pathogen
13. Bacillus Anthracis (ATCC 14578)
Batch #01-06-78 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
14. Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14581)
Batch #04-18-85 (2 each)
15. Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 14945)
Batch #06-21-81 (2 each)
16. Clostridium botulinum Type E (ATCC 17855)
Batch # 06-21-71
Class III pathogen
17. Bacillus megaterium (ATCC 19213)
Batch #3-84 (2 each)
18. Clostridium botulinum Type A (ATCC 19397)
Batch # 08-18-81 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
19. Brucella abortus Biotype 3 (ATCC 23450)
Batch # 08-02-84 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
20. Brucella abortus Biotype 9 (ATCC 23455)
Batch # 02-05-68 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
21. Brucella melitensis Biotype 1 (ATCC 23456)
Batch # 03-08-78 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
22. Brucella melitensis Biotype 3 (ATCC 23458)
Batch # 01-29-68 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
23. Clostribium botulinum Type A (ATCC 25763)
Batch # 8-83 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
24. Clostridium botulinum Type F (ATCC 35415)
Batch # 02-02-84 (2 each)
Class III pathogen
Date : August 31, 1987
Sent To : State Company for Drug Industries
Materials Shipped:
1. Saccharomyces cerevesiae (ATCC 2601)
Batch # 08-28-08 (1 each)
2. Salmonella choleraesuis subsp. choleraesuis Serotype typhi
(ATCC 6539)
Batch # 06-86S (1 each)
3. Bacillus subtillus (ATCC 6633)
Batch # 10-85 (2 each)
4. Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae (ATCC 10031)
Batch # 08-13-80 (1 each)
5. Escherichia coli (ATCC 10536)
Batch # 04-09-80 (1 each)
6. Bacillus cereus (11778)
Batch #05-85SV (2 each)
7. Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228)
Batch # 11-86s (1 each)
8. Bacillus pumilus (ATCC 14884)
Batch # 09-08-80 (2 each)
(====================)
*INSERT NOTE* - SH attacked Iraqi Kurds with chemical agents in the
Kurdish town of Halabja in March 1988. Halabja had a population of about
80,000 people, predominantly Kurdish who sympathized with Iran during
the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Troops from the Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) entered
Halabja on 15 March 1988, *accompanied by Iranian revolutionary guards.*
The Iraqi attack began early in the evening of March 16th.
The Reagan/Bush Dept of Commerce issued licenses for export *AFTER* SH
attacked the Kurds in Halabja with chemical weapons in March 1988.
(====================)
Date : July 11, 1988
Sent To : Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
Materials Shipped
1. Escherichia coli (ATCC 11303)
Batch # 04-875
Phase host
2. Cauliflower Mosaic Caulimovirus (ATCC 45031)
Batch # 06-14-85
Plant Virus
3. Plasmid in Agrobacterium Tumefaciens (ATCC 37349)
(Ti plasmid for co-cultivation with plant integration vectors
in E. Coli)
Batch # 05-28-85
Date : April 26, 1988
Sent To: : Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
Materials Shipped:
1. Hulambda4x-8, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
(HPRT) Chromosome(s): X q26.1 (ATCC 57236) Phage vector
Suggest host: E coli
2. Hulambda14-8, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
(HPRT) Chromosome(s): X q26.1 (ATCC 57240) Phage vector
Suggested host: E coli
3. Hulambda15, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
(HPRT) Chromosome(s): X q26.1 (ATCC 57242) Phage vector
Suggested host: E. coli
Date : August 31, 1987
Sent To : Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
Materials Shipped:
1. Escherichia coli (ATCC 23846)
Batch # 07-29-83 (1 each)
2. Escherichia coli (ATCC 33694)
Batch # 05-87 (1 each)
Date : September 29, 1988
Sent To : Ministry of Trade
Materials Shipped:
1. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 240)
Batch # 05-14-63 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
2. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 938)
Batch # 1963 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
3. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 3629)
Batch # 10-23-85 (3 each)
4. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 8009)
Batch # 03-30-84 (3 each)
5. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 8705)
Batch # 06-27-62 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
6. Brucella abortus (ATCC 9014)
Batch # 05-11-66 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
7. Clostridium perfringens (ATCC 10388)
Batch # 06-01-73 (3 each)
8. Bacillus anthracis (ATCC 11966)
Batch #05-05-70 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
9. Clostridium botulinum Type A
Batch # 07-86 (3 each)
Class III pathogen
10. Bacillus cereus (ATCC 33018)
Batch # 04-83 (3 each)
11. Bacillus ceres (ATCC 33019)
Batch # 03-88 (3 each)
Date : January 31, 1989
Sent To : Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
Materials Shipped:
1. PHPT31, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
(HPRT)
Chromosome(s): X q26.1 (ATCC 57057)
2. Plambda500, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
pseudogene (HPRT) Chromosome(s): 5 p14-p13 (ATCC 57212)
Date : January 17, 1989
Sent To : Iraq Atomic Energy Commission
Materials Shipped:
1. Hulambda4x-8, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
(HPRT) Chromosomes(s): X q26.1 (ATCC 57237) Phage vector;
Suggested host: E. coli
2. Hulambda14, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
(HPRT) Chromosome(s): X q26.1 (ATCC 57540), Cloned from human
lymphoblast, Phase vector
Suggested host: E. coli
3. Hulambda15, clone: human hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase
(HPRT) Chromosome(s): X q26.1 (ATCC 57241) Phage vector;
Suggested host: E. coli
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control has compiled a listing of
biological materials shipped to Iraq prior to the Gulf War. The listing
covers the period from October 1, 1984 (when the CDC began keeping
records) through October 13, 1993. The following materials with
biological warfare significance were shipped to Iraq during this period.
Date : November 28, 1989
Sent To : University of Basrah, College of
Science, Department of Biology
Materials Shipped:
1. Enterococcus faecalis
2. Enterococcus faecium
3. Enterococcus avium
4. Enterococcus raffinosus
5. Enteroccus gallinarium
6. Enterococcus durans
7. Enteroccus hirae
8. Streptococcus bovis
(etiologic)
Date : April 21, 1986
Sent To : Officers City Al-Muthanna,
Quartret 710, Street 13, Close 69, House 28/I,
Baghdad, Iraq
Materials Shipped:
1. 1 vial botulinum toxoid
(non-infectious)
Date : March 10, 1986
Sent To : Officers City Al-Muthanna,
Quartret 710, Street 13, Close 69 House 28/I,
Baghdad, Iraq
Materials Shipped:
1. 1 vial botulinum toxoid #A2
(non-infectious)
Date : June 25, 1985
Sent To : University of Baghdad, College of
Medicine, Department of Microbiology
Materials Shipped:
1. 3 years cultures
(etiologic)
Candida sp.
Date : May 21, 1985
Sent To : Basrah, Iraq
Materials Shipped:
1. Lyophilized arbovirus seed
(etiologic)
2. West Nile Fever Virus
Date : April 26, 1985
Sent To : Minister of Health, Ministry of
Health, Baghdad, Iraq
Materials Shipped:
1. 8 vials antigen and antisera (r. rickettsii and r. typhi) to
diagnose rickettsial infections (non-infectious)
