Letter Never Sent

Top Iraqi Scientist Surrenders To U.S.: A Valuable Source On Weapons Program:

“He would know Iraq’s chemical weapons program, since he lived with it,” said Hans Blix, the chief U.N. inspector, in a telephone interview yesterday. As late as March 19, the day before the war against Iraq started, Blix said, he received a letter from Saadi saying Iraq had destroyed all its chemical and biological weapons.

“I was telling the truth, always telling the truth, never told anything but the truth, and time will bear me out, you will see,” Saadi told ZDF. “There will be no difference after this war.”

Three days after the Iraqi government collapsed and after more than three weeks of war, U.S. military and intelligence forces have yet to report any discoveries of banned weapons or weapons systems.

The TV is beaming images of Iraqis in the streets. Apparently, this is to signal the victory of the US over another third world power. First there was Afghanistan and now Iraq, both countries weakened by years of war and in the case of Iraq by almost fifteen years of sanctions, ‘no fly zones’, and strategic bombings. The message is clear to other weak governments, build up your weapons programs and fast. Apparently, it doesn’t matter if you try to disarm. As Iraq surely did as there were no chemical weapons used and no so-called ‘weapons of mass distruction’ found. You can expect weapons technology to proliferate as governments realize how insecure their power is against invasion and covert war. Expect our own government to feel this insecurity as they beef up defense budgets and strengthen ‘anti-terror’ laws. The jack-booted Republican party has already made clear its intentions to make the provisions of the Patriot Act permanent. I also expect weaker governments to engage in a frenzy of relationship building with stronger parties to counter the apparent power of the United States. This will be an interesting moment as it gives our own government a choice between more power or prudence.

The US has yet to find chemical weapons in Iraq. Nor have they been used. This war is nothing but a deception.

US accused of plans to loot Iraqi antiques:

It has emerged that a coalition of antiquities collectors and arts lawyers, calling itself the American Council for Cultural Policy (ACCP), met with US defence and state department officials prior to the start of military action to offer its assistance in preserving the country’s invaluable archaeological collections.

The group is known to consist of a number of influential dealers who favour a relaxation of Iraq’s tight restrictions on the ownership and export of antiquities. Its treasurer, William Pearlstein, has described Iraq’s laws as ‘retentionist’ and has said he would support a post-war government that would make it easier to have antiquities dispersed to the US.

Before the Gulf war, a main strand of the ACCP’s campaigning has been to persuade its government to revise the Cultural Property Implementation Act in order to minimise efforts by foreign nations to block the import into the US of objects, particularly antiques.

News of the group’s meeting with the government has alarmed scientists and archaeologists who fear the ACCP is working to a hidden agenda that will see the US authorities ease restrictions on the movement of Iraqi artifacts after a coalition victory in Iraq.

Professor Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, leading Cambridge archaeologist and director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, said: ‘Iraqi antiquities legislation protects Iraq. The last thing one needs is some group of dealer-connected Americans interfering. Any change to those laws would be absolutely monstrous. ‘

The British Empire likewise looted Egyptian and Greek treasures during their colonial days.