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08 October 2002

Analyst Says Iraq Has Advanced System for Hiding Weapons Programs

(Iraq's weapons programs are further along than before 1991, he says)
(630)
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein has developed a
highly advanced system of denial and deception for its weapons of mass
destruction and ballistic missile programs, according to a U.S.
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) analyst.
Iraq has been "taking steps to conceal sensitive equipment and
documentation in anticipation of new inspections" by U.N. weapons
inspection teams, DIA intelligence officer John Yurechko said October
8 at a Pentagon briefing.
Yurechko said Iraq has three essential goals -- blur the truth about
its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) initiatives, prevent U.N.
weapons inspectors from uncovering its WMD programs, and block
complete disarmament. And to enhance those goals, Yurechko said, Iraq
has a highly developed concealment organization within the highest
reaches of the Iraqi government leading directly to its president --
Saddam Hussein.
The government's concealment mechanism involves the Higher Security
Committee, which answers directly to Hussein, and the Special Security
Organization, which is headed by Hussein's youngest son -- Qusay
Saddam Hussein, Yurechko said. These internal security agencies, in
turn, control activities by the Iraqi Military Industrial Commission,
Iraqi Intelligence Service, Special Republican Guard, and the
Directorate for Military Intelligence, he said.
Iraq has employed eight well-advanced techniques in what intelligence
agencies call "denial and deception" to conceal its WMD programs, he
said. He listed:
-- concealing and sanitizing facilities,
-- making fraudulent declarations to the U.N. and weapons inspectors,
-- sacrificing elements of some WMD programs to deceive inspectors,
-- creating WMD facility and program cover stories,
-- placing WMD programs in "dual-use" facilities,
-- declaring suspect facilities as "sensitive sites,"
-- establishing disinformation programs, and
-- staging tours of alleged WMD facilities by the Iraqi Ministry of
Information.
In one case of concealment cited by Yurechko, the Iraqis placed the
Abu Ghurayb biological weapons facility within a residential area
surrounded by nondescript buildings. The Iraqis added to its
concealment by labeling the facility as a "baby milk plant," he said,
though the plant's buildings were painted in camouflage patterns,
surrounded by double chain-link fences and had guard posts.
At the Fallujah III Castor Oil Production Plant, Yurechko said, the
Iraqis rebuilt portions of the former chemical weapons facility after
it was partially destroyed in Operation Desert Fox. Iraqi officials
claimed they were making castor oil for brake fluid production, but
castor oil has been used as an ingredient in chemical weapons, he
said.
And, he said, the Iraqis have built a large new chemical complex,
Project Baiji, at al-Sharqat in the desert in northwest Iraq.
Intelligence reports indicate it will produce nitric acid, which can
be used in explosives, missile fuel, and purification of uranium, he
said.
Yurechko said Iraq has begun renewed production of the chemical agents
mustard gas, sarin, cyclosarin and VX.
"All key aspects of Iraq's BW [biological weapons] program (research
and development, production, weaponization) are active," he said, and
"most elements are larger and more advanced than before the Gulf War."
Yurechko said Iraq continues to develop its nuclear program in breach
of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and U.N. Security Council
Resolution 687. In addition, he said, Iraq has retained a large cadre
of nuclear scientists, engineers, and technicians to keep its program
operating.
Finally, he said that gaps in Iraq's accounting to U.N. inspectors
suggest that Hussein retains a covert force of up to a few dozen
SCUD-variant ballistic missiles with ranges of 650-900 kilometers.
The DIA briefing coincided with an unclassified report released
October 4 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on "Iraq's Weapons
of Mass Destruction Programs," which details how Iraq has continued
its WMD programs in defiance of U.N. resolutions and restrictions. It
indicates that Iraq currently has chemical and biological weapons as
well as missiles with ranges in excess of U.N. restrictions, and if
left unchecked will have a nuclear weapon within the current decade.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)