MAYBE SADDAM'S REMAKING "NORTH BY NORTHWEST"?:

Iraq tried to order drones and spray kits (Jon Swain, 3/09/03, The Sunday Times of London)

SADDAM HUSSEIN has been trying to acquire a fleet of 300 drones equipped with spraying devices capable of delivering chemical and biological weapons, it was revealed last week.

Iraqi documents seen by The Sunday Times show orders for kits to make the pilotless planes and for gyroscopes and guidance systems enabling them to be flown at targets from a distance. The documents also contain requests for small spraying devices normally used in agriculture that would be specially adapted for use in the air. [...]

Details of the orders emerged as the United Nations declassified a report on Iraq’s prohibited weapons programme. Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, said there was “credible information” that Iraq never destroyed 21,000 litres of biological warfare agents, including 10,000 litres of anthrax, stored during the 1990 Gulf war. There was also “credible information” that Iraq had 7,000 litres more biological warfare agents in bombs and warheads than it had declared.

Blix mentioned that inspectors had recently discovered an undeclared Iraqi drone with a wingspan of 25ft, which he said had been test-piloted by Iraq and could carry anthrax or other biological weapons to neighbouring countries.

To the fury of British and American officials the disclosure was buried deep in his 173-page report and not mentioned in an oral presentation to foreign ministers. The plane is being studied by inspectors to determine whether it can exceed the authorised range of 92 miles.

There are reports that the copy of Blix's report that went to Colin Powell did not have this info because it was only a "draft", so Powell gave his speech without knowing this. Whoever at the UN thought that it was a good idea to keep him in the dark truly does not understand anything about the man. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 8, 2003 9:45 PM