Return-Path: <sentto-279987-5262-1030541974-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 [204.181.12.215] by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.7.4) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Wed, 28 Aug 2002 06:49:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 25161 invoked by uid 510); 28 Aug 2002 13:46:08 -0000 Received: from n3.grp.scd.yahoo.com (66.218.66.86) by all.net with SMTP; 28 Aug 2002 13:46:08 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-5262-1030541974-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com Received: from [66.218.67.195] by n3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 28 Aug 2002 13:39:34 -0000 X-Sender: fc@red.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_1_0_1); 28 Aug 2002 13:39:34 -0000 Received: (qmail 99000 invoked from network); 28 Aug 2002 13:39:34 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.218) by m2.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 28 Aug 2002 13:39:34 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO red.all.net) (12.232.72.152) by mta3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 28 Aug 2002 13:39:34 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by red.all.net (8.11.2/8.11.2) id g7SDe9623877 for iwar@onelist.com; Wed, 28 Aug 2002 06:40:09 -0700 Message-Id: <200208281340.g7SDe9623877@red.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL3] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 06:40:09 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [iwar] [fc:Military.experts.say.there's.no.evidence.Saddam.is.close.to.having.a.weapon] Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Assessing Iraq's nuclear progress Military experts say there's no evidence Saddam is close to having a weapon By Jim Miklaszewski NBC NEWS WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 - Military officials have told NBC News that there is no evidence that Iraq has produced or obtained any nuclear fuel, clashing with the Bush administration's official statements that Saddam Hussein is close to developing a nuclear weapon. THE UNITED STATES said during the Persian Gulf War that it had crippled President Saddam Hussein's drive to come up with nuclear weapons. Eleven years later, the Bush administration is claiming that Iraq is getting close again as Washington debates whether U.S. forces should launch a military attack to oust Saddam. When U.N. weapons inspectors left Iraq four years ago, they concluded that Saddam had the design and the ability to build a nuclear bomb but lacked the critical component: weapons-grade uranium or plutonium. Experts estimate that with the proper fuel, he could build a bomb within a year. But so far, U.S. agencies have developed no intelligence that he has produced or obtained the proper fissile material, knowledgeable observers said. "Vice President [Dick] Cheney would say: 'Why wait? Let's go now while we are still sure he doesn't have a bomb,'" said Michael O'Hanlon, a defense budget and technology specialist at the Brookings Institution and author of "Defense Policy Choices for the Bush Administration, 2001-2005." "But there's a real chance that Saddam's progress toward a bomb is very, very slow, and he may actually never get one," said O'Hanlon, who has criticized President Bush's defense spending priorities in congressional testimony this year. THREAT OF ALTERNATIVE WEAPONS The bigger threat, experts say, is Saddam's chemical or biological weapon stockpiles. U.N. weapons inspectors estimate that Saddam has produced 32,000 gallons of biological agents, including nearly 7,000 gallons of so-called weapons-grade anthrax, and is working on weaponizing smallpox. Chemical weapons are said to include up to 100 tons of the deadly nerve gas VX, and it is estimated that Iraq still has 12 to 20 Scud missiles left over from the Gulf War with which to deliver it. Still, some experts question whether there is any evidence that Iraq ever intends to use those weapons of mass destruction. "I think before you resort to pre-emptive attack, you must have very good intelligence, and you must have intelligence that shows that an attack against the United States is quite imminent," said William Cohen, defense secretary during the Clinton administration, who said he believed Saddam posed no greater threat today than he had before. U.S. officials fear however, that even if Saddam does not use the deadly weapons, he could give them to terrorists, such as Osama bin Laden, whose al-Qaida terrorist network is believed to have been responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Receive Phone Calls and Faxes While You're Online! Emerson Switchboard eliminates the need for a second phone line. 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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2002-10-01 06:44:32 PDT