dnice35 Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Amid the ongoing diplomatic wrangling at the U.N., a newspaper quoted U.S. officials Monday as saying U.N. weapons inspectors have found a new Iraqi rocket capable of spreading biological or chemical agents over wide spaces. The New York Times quotes U.S. officials who said Iraq conceded that the previously unknown missile, constructed from parts of other weapons, might have been configured -- in some cases -- as a chemical weapon. The newspaper quotes an unnamed American official who said the missile appeared to use "cluster munitions" to disperse the deadly agents. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix did not mention the rocket during his presentation Friday to the Security Council. But the discovery is supported by Blix's 173-page report detailing the history of Iraq's weapons program, according to the Times. The report surfaced as Iraq continued to destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles Monday, according to Iraq's Information Ministry. In a news conference Sunday, the head of the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate said Friday's reports from the U.N. chief weapons inspectors proved allegations false that Iraq harbors weapons of mass destruction. Iraq consistently has denied possessing chemical, nuclear and biological arms. "Once again, we have confirmed that Iraq is clear of weapons of mass destruction," Iraqi Gen. Hussam Amin said. "All the American and British allegations are lies and baseless accusations." Meanwhile, a vote on a U.N. draft resolution that would set a March 17 deadline for Iraq to disarm or face a U.S.-led attack could come as soon as Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that the United States is within "striking distance" of winning majority U.N. Security Council support for the resolution, but he said the Bush administration is prepared to move against Baghdad without it. Three of the veto-wielding permanent members of the council -- Russia, France, and China -- have said they oppose any resolution that would lead to war, and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Monday that Moscow will vote against the new resolution if it comes before the U.N. Security Council. Meanwhile, Iraq's neighbor and strategically important U.S. ally Turkey was closer to having a new prime minister Monday. Turkish political leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in Sunday's Turkish parliamentary race, boosting odds that the United States will gain permission to base troops at Turkish staging areas ahead of a possible invasion of Iraq. (Full story) Erdogan had backed the proposal to allow American soldiers to be based in Turkey, but has said he wants more assurances from Washington on what role his country would play in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq before resubmitting the motion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 The appeasers will use this as "proof" that inspections are working, instead of "proof" that Iraq is making everyone look foolish......and inspections is ONE GIANT FARCE, and has been for 12 years....I believe the written report also shows the inspectors found a drone, yet another weapon that Iraq failed to disclose, and Blix failed to verbally communicate is his UN presentation....Blix also failed to mention in his report that Iraq sent inspectors to two sites where they "buried" chemical weapons---inspectors found nothing and Iraq claimed to have "lost" the documents that showed "proof" they were buried....ALL former UN inspectors laugh about this international circus, yet we have appeasers and blowhards here who still believe inspections work, despite evidence after evidence they do not work....And the longer this goes on--the more emboldened Saddam feels about the prospects of his survival, which makes war even more inevitable....which no one wants-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramadas Posted March 10 Report Share Posted March 10 not good.But still, not a "smoking gun". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Raver---you are killing me!!!Iraq has mastered this game--a game for 12 years....The inspectors have found some more stuff--weapons designed to deliver WMD---but this is still not good enough?They REFUSE to turn over documents about their WMD--which I might add, were confirmed by the UN in 1998--right before they left Iraq...They claim they "lost" documentation showing they destroyed WMD--yet this is one of the most tightly controlled regimes in the world....I am afraid the proof that you are looking for--the so-called "smoking gun"...can only be found in two ways:(1) US invasion(2) God forbid, he uses his WMDWhy is it that Saddam gets the benefit of the doubt, but the US does not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigpoppanils Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 and how many UN resolutions and policies has Israel violated over the past 12 years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr mahs Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 How many people has Isreal gassed in the last 12 years?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igloo Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Originally posted by bigpoppanils and how many UN resolutions and policies has Israel violated over the past 12 years? So this makes it OK for Iraq????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr mahs Posted March 11 Report Share Posted March 11 Who has a hunger for world domination??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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