US redoubles efforts to pinpoint Iraq’s WMDs
The US is to step up efforts to locate Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.
In recent days, US President George W. Bush’s administration has been forced to defend its decision to take unilateral action against Saddam Hussein’s regime, as the whereabouts of the Iraqi leader’s reported arsenal of chemical and biological weapons has proved difficult to come by.
Alongside US representatives in the 1,400-strong new team will be officials from the UK and Australia – countries which stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the US during the campaign to dethrone Mr. Hussein.
The Iraq Survey Group will be led by Major General Keith Dayton, a key figure in the US Defence Intelligence Agency.
Mr. Dayton said he was upbeat on the team finding evidence of an illegal weapons programme. The new group represented a ‘significant expansion’ of efforts thus far in Iraq.
‘This is not necessarily going to be quick and easy, but it’s going to be very thorough. There is a lot of information out there that hasn’t been gathered yet.’
Prior the war, the US military identified 900 ‘suspect sites’ housing WMDs, but with more than 200 of those sites visited and no evidence collated, some have criticised the US for going to war under false pretences, as there was no ‘smoking gun.’
Indeed, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suggested earlier this week that Iraqis may have destroyed the weapons before the start of the conflict.
Though Prime Minister Tony Blair said this week he was in doubt that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, and rebutted claims that the war had been fought on false pretences.
