KPN readers are well aware of the dubious claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, claims that were used as the basis for war, and further comment to such an audience seems superfluous. Yet a further, final word on the subject is tempting.
The danger posed to the world by
Neither were doubts about the effectiveness of Saddam’s chemical and
biological weapons mentioned by the prime minister during the debate. On the
contrary, he stressed the thousands of litres of anthrax solution as a
dangerous threat. Yet he must have been
aware that Saddam’s chemical weapons were well past their sell-by date. In his recent book, The Point of Departure,
Robin Cook, who resigned his post as Leader of the House of Commons because of
the
For a start most
chemical or biological agents that Saddam had retained for a decade would long
ago have degenerated to the point where they were of no operational use. This is a principle of science well known to
those who wrote the dossier. . . .
Government ministers alarmed the public by claims that Saddam had ten thousand
litres of anthrax solution unaccounted for since 1991. They never added that the standard life of
anthrax is three years and by now the substance would be in the words of Scott
Ritter, the former UN inspector, ‘harmless useless goo’.
H.D.