Tuesday, April 5, 2005
One of the theories about at least some of Saddam's missing WMD's was that perhaps Saddam himself was mislead by his underlings about the existence of the stuff. That seems to be the case here (although, amazingly, or not if you've been keeping abreast of the AP's spin, this AP report tries to make it into an American lie).
Rashid Taha says she dumped the anthrax near one of Saddam's palaces back in 1991, but couldn't tell him for fear of his wrath for having sone so. I guess that's one of those draw-backs of running a fear society - you can never trust what your underlings are on about.
Iraqi Anthrax Scientist Kept Her Secret
Rihab Rashid Taha could try to lower the heat by finally telling U.N.inspectors what happened to Iraq's "missing" anthrax.
Or she could remain silent, rather than risk Saddam Hussein's wrath.
The microbiologist's dilemma, she has told U.S. interrogators, was that her team 12 years earlier had destroyed the lethal bacteria by dumping it practically at the gates of one of Saddam's main palaces, and the feared Iraqi despot might grow enraged at news of anthrax on his doorstep.
Taha chose silence in 2003, thus stoking suspicions of those who contended Iraq still harbored biological weapons. Soon thereafter, two years ago this month, the United States invaded.
"Whether those involved understood the significance and disastrous consequences of their actions is unclear," the CIA-led Iraq Survey Group says of Taha and colleagues in its final report on Iraq weapons-hunting.
"These efforts demonstrate the problems that existed on both sides in establishing the truth."...
