[Media-watch] [Fwd: Newsnight / Investigation suggestion / Iraq disarmament]

[Darren Smith]

Here's an email I have sent to Newsnight. I want them to investigate the
topic of Iraqi disarmament. There is a persuasive case that Iraqi was
disarmed of WMD by 1998. Labour ministers keep repeating that Iraq
failed to disarm over 12 years, and Blair says it is "absurd" to think
inspections can work with full cooperation.

If you can find the time, please also try and send a letter to Newsnight
(Newsnight at bbc.co.uk) urging them to undertake this kind of
investigation.

Darren

-----Forwarded Message-----

> From: Darren Smith <djs1 at stir.ac.uk>
> To: Newsnight at bbc.co.uk
> Cc: Media Editor <editor at medialens.org>
> Subject: Newsnight / Investigation suggestion / Iraq disarmament
> Date: 01 Mar 2003 11:59:57 +0000
> 
> Dear Newsnight, 
>  
> Please find below an outline for an investigation I urge your
> programme to undertake quite soon. It concerns the degree of
> disarmament of Iraqi WMD achieved by the previous UNSCOM/IAEA
> mission between 1991-1998.
>  
> OVERVIEW 
>  
> Several times on Newsnight and elsewhere I have watched Labour
> ministers defend their pro-war stance by arguing that Iraq has had
> 12 years to disarm and has failed to do so. So, they argue, a
> further couple of months for inspectors would be worthless.
>  
> Similarly, during the recent Commons debate, the Western Morning
> News (27 Feb) reported that Jack Straw "opened a debate on the Iraq
> crisis by accusing Saddam of prevaricating and failing to disarm his
> 'horrific arsenal' of chemical and biological weapons for 12 years."
>  
> But is this claim true? Or, as several credible sources argue and
> suggest, was Iraq disarmed of WMD by the end of 1998? This is the
> question I'd urge you to investigate, because it is the fulcrum
> which supports Blair's pro-war case. If you can show there is
> reasonable case for concluding that Iraq was "fundamentally"
> disarmed by the end of 1998, then (1) the supposed threat isn't so
> great now; (2) it shows that weapons inspectors can get their work
> done even without "full cooperation," and (3) it could suggest that
> ministers are trying to mislead the public.
>  
> The latter two points are very significant, because Blair has told
> MPs that it is "absurd" to think that weapons inspectors can disarm
> Saddam Hussein without full cooperation (Belfast Telegraph, 26
> February 2003), and calling for extra time would be "folly and
> weakness."  (Daily Record, 26 February 2003).
>  
> "FUNDAMENTALLY DISARMED" - EVIDENCE 
>  
> To aid your investigation, I list below some starting points. Each
> is a claim that Iraq was effectively disarmed by the UNSCOM and IAEA
> inspectors.
>  
> (1) In their report, "Concerning Disarmament and Current and Future
> Ongoing Monitoring and Verification Issues", 27 March 1999, a United
> Nations Panel reported:
>  
>     para. 14, "... the Agency is able to state that there is no
>     indication that Iraq possesses nuclear weapons or any meaningful
>     amounts of weapon-usable nuclear material or that Iraq has
>     retained any practical capability (facilities or hardware) for
>     the production of such material."
>  
>     para. 25, "...in spite of well-known difficult circumstances,
>     UNSCOM and IAEA have been effective in uncovering and destroying
>     many elements of Iraq's proscribed weapons programmes in
>     accordance with the mandate provided by the Security Council.
>     It is the panel's understanding that IAEA has been able to
>     devise a technically coherent picture of Iraq's nuclear weapons
>     programme. UNSCOM has achieved considerable progress in
>     establishing material balances of Iraq's proscribed weapons.
>     Although important elements still have to be resolved, the bulk
>     of Iraq's proscribed weapons programmes has been eliminated."
>     (http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/documents/Amorim%20Report.htm)
>  
>  
> (2) Newsweek has recently reported that the Iraqi defector Hussein
> Kamel "the highest-ranking Iraqi official ever to defect from Saddam
> Hussein's inner circle, told CIA and British intelligence officers
> and U.N. inspectors in the summer of 1995 that after the gulf war,
> Iraq destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons stocks and
> the missiles to deliver them." The Newsweek article notes "the
> defector's tale raises questions about whether the WMD stockpiles
> attributed to Iraq still exist." Of course Kamel might have been
> lying. However he was deemed credible enough to be mentioned by
> Colin Powell during his infamous February 5th presentation to the UN
> Security Council.
>  
> (3) In an April 2002 briefing, "A Threat to the World? The facts
> about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction", Cambridge analyst Glen
> Rangwala (who made the discovery of the plagiarised material in the
> Downing Street dossier) writes:
>  
>     "UNSCOM recorded how there was compliance with most of its work
>     for over seven years of intrusive inspections. As a result,
>     UNSCOM's executive chairman Rolf Ekeus reported to the Security
>     Council on 11 April 1997 that 'not much is unknown about Iraq's
>     retained proscribed weapons capabilities'."
>  
> (4) Reviewing the 9 years of Iraqi disarmament, previous UNSCOM
> executive chairman Rolf Ekeus stated in a presentation at Harvard
> University on 23 May 2000 that "in all areas we have eliminated
> Iraq's [WMD] capabilities fundamentally".
> (http://www.arabmediawatch.com/iraq/reading/artgr6.htm)
>  
> (5) Previous UN inspector Scott Ritter has also made these
> claims. He writes,
>  
>     "... since 1998 Iraq has been fundamentally disarmed: 90-95% of
>     Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capability has been
>     verifiably eliminated. This includes all of the factories used
>     to produce chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, and
>     long-range ballistic missiles; the associated equipment of these
>     factories; and the vast majority of the products coming out of
>     these factories." (Ritter and William Rivers Pitt, War On Iraq,
>     Profile Books, 2002, p.23)
>  
> (6) Chris Smith MP has also presented the case that the UN weapons
> inspection regime between 1991 and 1998 had produced "very
> substantial" gains and should be given more time now. (The Guardian,
> 27 February 2003)
>  
> (7) Several times senior Iraqi officials have stated they no longer
>     have WMD. (Of course, we can immediately dismiss them as not
>     telling the truth. But that healthy skepticism should also be
>     applied to Tony Blair and his pro-war supporters who make the
>     opposite claim.)
>  
> SUMMARY 
>  
> There is persuasive and authoritative evidence that Iraq was
> "fundamentally disarmed" of weapons of mass destruction capability
> by the end of 1998, and that inspections can be successful even
> without "100% cooperation."  This contradicts claims by ministers,
> claims they have made on your own programme.
>  
> I ask you to investigate this topic, to ask these awkward
> questions. Please broadcast it as the main lead item. Invite on
> ministers to defend their claims. What evidence can they produce? If
> possible, I'd also urge you to invite Scott Ritter in order to put
> the case for Iraqi disarmament.
>  
> If you chose not to investigate this topic, I would be really
> interested to hear why.
>  
> I look forward to you feedback.
>  
> Regards,
>  
> Darren Smith
> 
> -- 
> 
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> 
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> Email : djs1 at stir.ac.uk
> 
-- 
djs1 at stir.ac.uk

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