Iraq secret docs regarding WMD inspections Feb, 2003

Translator’s notes: Document CMPC-2003-005525 includes “Secret, Private and Immediate” memos sent to the Vice President of Iraq detailing the daily activities of the UN inspection teams few weeks before the war.
-The document covers 55 pages on the computer and each memo covers several pages.
- Most of the documents detail the hourly activities of the inspection team.
- In several memos the destruction of shells containing mustard is discussed.
- The paragraphs related to the mustard shells are translated along with a paragraph related to the destruction of some kind of culture media.
- The date at the top of every report refers to an inspection visit that took place one day earlier.
- The top of every page includes the following:

Republic of Iraq
Office of the Presidency
Directorate of Military Manufacturing
Office of National Supervision

Date 20-2-2003            Secret, Private and Immediate

To: Office of the Vice Presidency – Mr. Taha Yassin Ramadan

Subject: Report of daily activity.

-Each report is sent as copies to Tarek Aziz who was Foreign Minister and the Minister of Military Industry.
-The reports are signed by Hussam Ahmad Amin the general director of the Office of National Supervision.

Translations of selected paragraphs:

Report date 20-2-2003. Pages 11/55 to 17/55.
Page 15/55
Second group: The team, composed of 19 inspectors and 7 vehicles, and led by the Austrian Harold departed at 8:00. It  reached Al Muthana Al Mulghat site which belongs to Al Tarek general company at 9:45. Upon arrival the team proceeded with the task of perforating the remaining equipment (translator’s note: in later memos the word equipment will be referring to 155mm shells) full of the mustard. They were not able to proceed with the perforation because of the inability of the perforator, therefore inspector Harold called UNMOVIC headquarter in New York and told them about the inefficiency of the method of perforating to empty the mustard material and he suggested to them to destroy the equipment by exploding them. He did not get an answer from New York, therefore the work was postponed and they will inform us about their decision later. The visit ended at 17:45 and the team reached Al Qanat hotel at 19:30. 

Report date 24-2-2003. Pages 25/55 to 29/55.
Pages 26-27/55.
Second group: At 10:00 the team made of 3 inspectors and led by the Austrian Harold had a meeting with the representatives of our directorates concerning the destruction of the mustard equipment of 155mm caliber. The team leader informed us that he informed New York about the Iraqi proposal concerning the destruction of the 155mm shells. That proposal was discussed during the 22-2 meeting in our directorate. They approved it and requested this schedule for its execution:
1)    On 26-2 the Iraqis will put one shell in a barrel and cover it with ice and salt. It will be left till the next day when the chemical group will prepare the work requirements.
2)    On 27-2 the chemical group will perforate the shell and extract the mustard from it. If the procedure works it will be done to the other shells
3)    To accomplish the procedure the team leader requested 7 Kgs of explosives with their requirements to destroy the empty shells which will number 14 empty shells. The meeting ended at 11:30

Report date 23-2-2003. Pages 30/55 to 35/55
Page 32-33/55
UNMOVIC -15. Fourth biological team
A team made of 3 inspectors and 1 car and led by the American Roco left at 8:35 and reached Al Razi center for the production of identification equipment and which is part of the General directorate of Industrial Research and Development at 9:35. Upon arrival the team destroyed part of the culture media by using the incinerator and another part by treating it with water. Before its destruction the team took 8 samples and photographed the operation. Then they went to another site and reached the laboratory of food analysis in Al Jadiria at 11:20 where it destroyed some chemicals by adding the material “al kasser” and putting it into an incubator. Before destroying it 6 samples were taken and the operation was photographed. The inspection ended at 12:30 and the team reached the hotel Al Qanat at 12:55.   

Report date 28-2-2003. Pages 36/55 to 39/55.
Page 38/55
The second team: At 8:00 a group made of 9 inspectors and 4 vehicles headed to Al Muthana Al Mulghat site. They reached the site at 9:40. Upon arrival they proceeded with perforating the 155mm shells full of mustard. The technicians of Tarek general company perforated the shells and emptied the mustard of all the shells in barrels while taking samples of them. At the end the team leader informed our directorate representative that on Saturday the first of March they will visit the site to take samples of the destroyed (through treatment with hypo) mustard. Then they will burn the empty shells and bury the destroyed mustard next to the burning place. During the destruction they filmed the whole process for eight bombs and used a toxic gases detector. The inspection ended at 15:05 and the team reached the Al Qanat hotel at 17:00.

Report date 27-2-2003. Pages 41/55 to 47/55
Page 44/55
UNMOVIC-14. Third chemical team.
First group: The team departed at 8:00. Team is made of 12 inspectors and 5 vehicles led by the Austrian Harold. It reached Al Muthana Al Mulghat site which belongs to Al Tarek general company at 9:45. Upon arrival it continued the procedures of destroying the shells full of mustard where a shell was perforated, a sample was taken and the rest was dumped in a metallic barrel containing hypo chlorate to destroy it. The inspection ended at 15:00 and the team reached the Al Qanat hotel at 17:00.

Comments

[The Liberal Avenger]

Wow, Roy... If only the US government could have drawn upon your expertise BEFORE the war we might have never invaded in the first place!

[Ray Robison]

To LA, these postings show that after 12 years of sanctions, the UN could find WMD in Iraq on a day trip. Why couldn't the Iraqis find them? Got an answer there Mr Clever? Why were these chemical weapons not reported to the UN before? Let me help you, because Saddam was still hiding some of his stocks 12 years after he agreed to destroy them all. And if you do the research there are several incidents of UN inspectors finding banned weapons just before the war. Including chemical 122mm rockets in AN AMMO DEPOT! Not buried under rubble. In a fricking AMMO DEPOT in perfect operational condition.

[mark]

ray, facts DO NOT matter to people against the war, wmd's being there or not isn't even an issue to them. they are just anti-war people and the wmd ruse is what helps them sleep at nite and justify their illogic of their decision to keep an absolute monster in power, a monster who had intentions of killing innocent Americans, Europeans, Muslims, Kurds, Iranians, Phillipinos, Turks, etc,
they know it was right to remove the monster deep down and the wmd argument is the medication that helps them pallet the undesirable atrocities of their pacifism.

[Stephen]

[Ray wrote: "...if you do the research there are several incidents of UN inspectors finding banned weapons just before the war. Including chemical 122mm rockets in AN AMMO DEPOT!"]

Those shells were empty. In fact it was that pre-war discovery which prompted the Iraqis to set up a special unit to search for any other misplaced toxic shells. They found several and promptly turned them over to UNMOVIC for disposal. The document you reproduce here discusses precisely that process. It was never a secret.

[Ray Robison]

Stephen, I am currently trying to obtain the video that the Iraqis took of that inspection through FOIA. I viewed it at work with the ISG. Do not hang your hat on the fact that the UN or the media would accurately report something like this if it would spark a war.

"prompted the Iraqis to set up a special unit to search for any other misplaced toxic shells"

Misplaced? In an ammo depot? Look dude, we can be reasonable, if one round was found in a hole in the ground in the middle of the desert I could say maybe it was lost or stolen. Now here is the obvious to the oblivious. Ammunition in an ammo depot is HIDDEN not MISPLACED and to say otherwise is unreasonable and well, idiotic.

[rawsnacks]

"Those shells were empty. In fact it was that pre-war discovery which prompted the Iraqis to set up a special unit to search for any other misplaced toxic shells."

how nice of them

[lilbitthunder]

Saddam was trying anything he could to try to "prove to the world" that he was no threat. He wanted to stay in power. He was pretending, Stephen. After 12 yrs of UN inspections do you really think Saddam was going to come out and say...."OK, you got me....here is my stash of WMDs."