WP: Arms Hunt In Iraq to Get New Focus

[kskiska]

Next Chief Named for Effort

By Walter Pincus and Dana Milbank
Saturday, January 24, 2004; Page A01

The departing chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq said yesterday that he now believes Saddam Hussein did not stockpile forbidden weapons after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and the incoming chief inspector indicated that he will shift the focus of the hunt from finding weapons to learning what became of Hussein's weapons programs.

The CIA announced officially yesterday that Charles A. Duelfer, a former senior U.N. weapons inspector, will succeed David Kay, who is resigning after nine months of unsuccessful searches for banned weapons in Iraq. Duelfer, who as a private academic said the Bush administration's prewar allegations on Iraq's weapons were "far off the mark," said yesterday that his goal is to reconstruct Iraq's "game plan" for its weapons and weapons programs.

Also yesterday, Kay said in an interview with the Reuters news agency that most of what will be found in the Iraq weapons search has already been found. Of the stockpiles alleged by the administration, "I don't think they existed," he said. "I don't think there was a large-scale production program in the '90s." Kay could not be reached for further comment.

The transition from Kay to Duelfer underscores a change in emphasis in the U.S. hunt for banned weapons. While Kay began his search with expectations of finding stockpiles, Duelfer has said the mission now is to discover when and how such stockpiles were eliminated. And while Kay emphasized physical searches for proof of weapons activity, Duelfer will rely on his previous relationships with Iraqi scientists from his days with the United Nations.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43180-2004Jan23.html?nav=hptop_tb

[lastknowngood]

1. Yea use the CIA to ship

in some old Libyan WMD's and TA DA the shrub is saved.

[kskiska]

2. Kick! Front page story

:kick:

[zbdent]

3. STAPLE REMOVERS!!!

Many of them!

At least 3!

[teryang]

4. Endless spin on the lie of the century

Hundreds of millions are not enough to continue the big lie of his royal dynastic leadership into elective war.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. so "weapons of mass destruction related program activities"

turns out to be "how such stockpiles were eliminated". Those damned sneaky Iraqis were disarming without telling us! Of course we had to invade - they were upsetting the balance of power!