The United States has determined that Iraq's biological
weapons arsenal is larger and more advanced than it was during the 1991 Gulf
war.
Furthermore, the arsenal is mobile and hidden in civilian vans, officials said.
Officials said the U.S. intelligence community believes that Iraq has
made significant strides in improving the lethality of its BW arsenal. They
said the regime of President Saddam Hussein has developed more advanced
strains of lethal germs that can be weaponized in missile warheads, civilian
aircraft and artillery shells.
Moreover, Iraq is deemed as capable of producing
so-called dry toxins set as powder that easily float in the air and can
cover a wide area.
The toxins could then be easily inhaled and result in
widespread disease, Middle East Newsline reported.
The officials said they did not expect the United Nations to discover
Iraq's BW laboratories or production centers. They said most, if not all, of
the centers are mobile and concealed in civilian vans.
"All elements of their program are more advanced despite UN sanctions,
despite the UN embargo," an intelligence official who is an expert on Iraq
said.
[On Tuesday, UN weapons inspectors visited three suspected missile and
biological weapons sites. The UN did not disclose any results.]
In 1998, Iraq acknowledged that it had produced 25 BW warheads for Scud
short- and medium-range missiles. The Saddam regime also told the UN that
Baghdad had produced 19,000 liters of concentrated botulinum toxin, 8,500
liters of anthrax and 2,200 liters of aflatoxin.
As an aerosol, botulinum toxin can kill people within 36 hours by
paralyzing the respiratory muscles. Aflotoxin can cause liver cancer.
Officials said Iraq achieved major strides in its BW program over the
last four years. In 1998, UN inspectors were forced out of Iraq. They said
Iraq is suspected of having developed or obtained strains of smallpox and
plague.
In contrast, officials said, Iraq's chemical weapons threat Ñ estimated
at between 100 and 500 metric tons Ñ has somewhat subsided. They cited the
UN destruction or a large amount of chemical agents and missiles during the
early 1990s. Most of the CW stockpile is believed to be mustard gas.
"The fact is that a lot of chemical agent and munitions and delivery
systems were destroyed in 1991," an official said.
