Found this on the cia website dated 26th June 2003
crystal | 11.07.2003 01:53
I think we are all going to have to get used to this. As the two governments begin to shift their language away from finding actual weapons in Iraq, towards finding mere evidence of weapons programs, they will be preparing us more little treats like the following. Which seems to tell us nothing more than that Iraq didn't want to destroy all its options, and wanted to retain the possibility of maybe starting down the long road of centrifuge construction at some indefinite time in the future.
In other words, this is evidence not of a weapons program, but of a possible intention to maybe start one at some time in the future.
If, of course, you believe the word of an Iraqi in the hands of the US. Who must know that saying what they want to hear could be the difference for him between Guantanamo Bay and a lovely safe well-paid job in the USA, or a top US job at home, in charge of his fellowcountrymen.
Here is the quote:
June 26, 2003
CIA Statement on Recently Acquired Iraqi Centrifuge Equipment
The head of Iraq’s pre-1991 centrifuge uranium enrichment program, Dr. Mahdi Shukur Ubaydi, approached U.S. officials in Baghdad and turned over a volume of centrifuge documents and components he had hidden in his garden from inspectors since 1991. Dr. Ubaydi said he was interviewed by IAEA inspectors - most recently in 2002 - but did not reveal any of this.
Dr. Ubaydi told us that these items, blue prints and key centrifuge pieces, represented a complete template for what would be needed to rebuild a centrifuge uranium enrichment program. He also claimed this concealment was part of a secret, high-level plan to reconstitute the nuclear weapons program once sanctions ended.
This case illustrates the extreme challenge we face in Iraq as we search for evidence of WMD programs that were designed to elude detection by international inspectors.
We are working with Dr. Ubaydi to evaluate the equipment and documents he provided us.
We are hopeful that Dr. Ubaydi’s example will encourage other Iraqis with knowledge of Saddam’s WMD programs to come forward.
If, of course, you believe the word of an Iraqi in the hands of the US. Who must know that saying what they want to hear could be the difference for him between Guantanamo Bay and a lovely safe well-paid job in the USA, or a top US job at home, in charge of his fellowcountrymen.
Here is the quote:
June 26, 2003
CIA Statement on Recently Acquired Iraqi Centrifuge Equipment
The head of Iraq’s pre-1991 centrifuge uranium enrichment program, Dr. Mahdi Shukur Ubaydi, approached U.S. officials in Baghdad and turned over a volume of centrifuge documents and components he had hidden in his garden from inspectors since 1991. Dr. Ubaydi said he was interviewed by IAEA inspectors - most recently in 2002 - but did not reveal any of this.
Dr. Ubaydi told us that these items, blue prints and key centrifuge pieces, represented a complete template for what would be needed to rebuild a centrifuge uranium enrichment program. He also claimed this concealment was part of a secret, high-level plan to reconstitute the nuclear weapons program once sanctions ended.
This case illustrates the extreme challenge we face in Iraq as we search for evidence of WMD programs that were designed to elude detection by international inspectors.
We are working with Dr. Ubaydi to evaluate the equipment and documents he provided us.
We are hopeful that Dr. Ubaydi’s example will encourage other Iraqis with knowledge of Saddam’s WMD programs to come forward.
crystal