Two messages today...a head's up on what will be a huge story
(interfering with U.S. war plans) around the world, that MAY even break
into serious visibility in the U.S., and another in our series of book
interviews that we are periodically sending, to let you know about
excellent new titles (this one by Milan Rai called War Plan Iraq).
First, when the massive pile of documents from Iraq appeared, in photos,
in the paper, and the U.S. immediately pulled out all stops to get first
access, to shut down wide dissemination, etc. -- the smart money said
that buried in the morass there would be evidence of U.S. (and European)
culpability in aiding the Iraqi weapons programs, dating back to before
the Gulf War, but covering the period of Hussein's rise and his worst
crimes, etc.
And lo and below...to be reported in tomorow's Die Tageszeitung (Berlin
daily), here is a list of US corporations that alegedly supplied Iraq
with nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile technology, prior to
1991. The list comes, it seems, from the original Iraqi report to the
Security Council. This is a big breaking story in Europe - read the clip
from this morning's Independent (London) below the list.
---
U.S. corporations involved...
A - nuclear K - chemical B - biological R - rockets
(missiles)
1) Honeywell (R,K)
2) Spektra Physics (K)
3) Semetex (R)
4) TI Coating (A,K)
5) UNISYS (A,K)
6) Sperry Corp. (R,K)
7) Tektronix (R,A)
8) Rockwell )(K)
9) Leybold Vacuum Systems (A)
10) Finnigan-MAT-US (A)
11) Hewlett Packard (A.R,K)
12) Dupont (A)
13) Eastman Kodak (R)
14) American Type Culture Collection (B)
15) Alcolac International (C)
16) Consarc (A)
17) Carl Zeis -U.Ss (K)
18) Cerberus (LTD) (A)
19) Electronic Assiciates (R)
20) International Computer Systems
21) Bechtel (K)
22) EZ Logic Data Systems,Inc. (R)
23) Canberra Industries Inc. (A)
24) Axel Electronics Inc. (A)
Additionally to these 24 companies based in the US, are nearly 50
subsidiaries of foreign enterprises whose arms co-operation with Iraq
seems to have been operated from the US. In addition, Ministries for
defense, energy, trade, and agriculture, as well as the foremost U.S.
nuclear weapons laboratories at Lawrence Livermore. Los Alamos, and
Sandia, are designated as suppliers for the Iraqi arms programs for A,
B, and C-weapons as well as for rockets.
Here is the report from this morning's Independent, in London...
Leaked Report Says German and US Firms Supplied Arms to Saddam
By Tony Paterson
The Independent (UK)
Baghdad's uncensored report to UN names Western companies alleged to
have developed its weapons of mass destruction.
Wednesday, 18 December, 2002
Iraq's 11,000-page report to the UN Security Council lists 150 foreign
companies, including some from America, Britain, Germany and France,
that supported Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programme, a
German newspaper said yesterday.
Berlin's left-wing Die Tageszeitung newspaper said it had seen a copy of
the original Iraqi dossier which was vetted for sensitive information by
US officials before being handed to the five permanent Security Council
members two weeks ago. An edited version was passed to the remaining 10
members of the Security Council last night.
British officials said the list of companies appeared to be accurate.
Eighty German firms and 24 US companies are reported to have supplied
Iraq with equipment and know-how for its weapons programmes from 1975
onwards and in some cases support for Baghdad's conventional arms
programme had continued until last year.
It is not known who leaked the report, but it could have come from Iraq.
Baghdad is keen to embarrass the US and its allies by showing the close
involvement of US, German, British and French firms in helping Iraq
develop its weapons of mass destruction when the country was a bulwark
against the much feared spread of Iranian revolutionary fervour to the
Arab world.
The list contained the names of long-established German firms such as
Siemens as well as US multi-nationals. With government approval, Siemens
exported machines used to eliminate kidney stones which have a "dual
use" high precision switch used to detonate nuclear bombs. Ten French
companies were also named along with a number of Swiss and Chinese
firms. The newspaper said a number of British companies were cited, but
did not name them.
"From about 1975 onwards, these companies are shown to have supplied
entire complexes, building elements, basic materials and technical
know-how for Saddam Hussein's programme to develop nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons of mass destruction," the newspaper said. "They also
supplied rockets and complete conventional weapons systems," it added.
The five permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States,
Britain, Russia, France and China -- have repeatedly opposed revealing
the extent of foreign companies' involvement, although a mass of
relevant information was collected by UN weapons inspectors who visited
the country between 1991 and 1998. The UN claims that publishing the
extent of the companies' involvement in Iraq would jeopardise necessary
co-operation with such firms.
German involvement outstripped that of all the other countries put
together, the paper said. During the period to 1991, the German
authoritiespermitted weapons co-operation with Iraq and in some cases
"actively encouraged" it, according to the newspaper which cited German
assistance allegedly given to Iraq for the development of poison gas
used in the 1988 massacre of Kurds in northern Iraq. It said that after
the massacre America reduced its military co-operation with Iraq but
German firms continued their activities until the Gulf War.
Die Tageszeitung quoted sources close to the US Vice President, Dick
Cheney, as saying the Bush administration was hoping to prove a German
company was continuing to co-operate with the Iraqi regime over the
supply of equipment allegedly useful in the construction of weapons of
mass destruction.
American weapons experts have recently voiced concern that the German
Government has permitted Siemens to sell Baghdad at least eight
sophisticated medical machines which contain devices that are vital for
nuclear weapons. The machines, known as "lithotripters", use ultrasound
to destroy kidney stones in patients. However, each machine contains an
electronic switch that can be used as a detonator in an atomic bomb,
according to US experts. Iraq was reported to have requested an extra
120 switches as "spare parts" during the initial transaction.
The delivery of the machines was approved by the European Commission and
the UN because sanctions against Iraq do not apply to medical equipment.
Siemens and the German Government have insisted that the machines, which
are being used in northern Iraq under a World Health Organisation
programme, cannot be used to make nuclear weapons.
--------
Also, here is a brief interview for your pleasure/edification with Milan
Rai, in ZNet's usual manner, regarding his new book, published by
Verso...
Interviewing Milan Rai
War Plan Iraq
http://versobooks.com/books/nopqrs/r-titles/rai_m_iraq.shtml
1) Can you tell ZNet, please, what your new book is about? What is it
trying to communicate?
War Plan Iraq tries to explain and document how the US has been hostile
to both UN weapons inspectors and to real regime change in Iraq. It also
sets out reasons why a war on Iraq would be immoral and illegal,
including the likely catastrophic effects on the civilian population.
The book is intended to give anti-war activists the ammunition they need
to win the argument and persuade the uncommitted.
Recent history demonstrates that the US has tried to achieve 'regime
stabilisation and only leadership change' in Iraq (by denying support to
the uprisings in 1991, for example), and has prioritised these goals
over the disarmament/inspection process in Iraq (by collapsing the UN
weapons inspection process in December 1998, for example).
The idea of the book was that it should be possible to give it to
someone who is solidly pro-war and for them not to be able to
immediately reject it, but be forced to engage with the depth of
documentation and the sober presentation.
Very important to the book are anti-war observations by relatives of
September 11th victims
photographer Kim Weston-Arnold, as well as an important chapter
addressing 9/11 by Noam Chomsky.
(2) Can you tell ZNet something about writing the book? Where does the
content come from? What went into making the book what it is?
The bulk of the book draws on four years of full-time
anti-sanctions/anti-war campaigning as joint coordinator of Voices in
the Wilderness UK, and fourteen years of writing and activism on these
topics with ARROW (Active Resistance to the Roots of War). Quite a bit
of the content comes from reading the British newspapers closely over
the course of the last year. The idea of the images and photographs is
to humanise the Iraqi people, who I have met, and found enormously
hospitable on my four sanctions-breaking delegations to Iraq over the
past four years.
(3) What are your hopes for War Plan Iraq? What do you hope it will
contribute or achieve, politically? Given the effort and aspirations you
have for the book, what will you deem to be a success? What would leave
you happy about the whole undertaking? What would leave you wondering if
it was worth all the time and effort?
What do I hope for War Plan Iraq? I hope that it will be a useful tool
for the international anti-war movement (it is being translated into
Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Brazilian Portuguese,
Japanese, and Korean) and that it will help to swing/shore up domestic
opinion in the US and the UK against war.
I hope that it will encourage and empower anti-war activists and
persuade the uncommitted to raise their voices against war.
I already feel that the book was worth all the effort, because it has
already helped a lot of people to resist propaganda and to win arguments
and to deepen their understanding of the depths of cynicism and
brutality with which we are faced.
I can't say that I am happy with the book and its effects, because I
wish that there was some way that cultural efforts (books) and political
efforts (organising civil disobedience and so on) could be sure of
preventing mass destruction in Iraq. I'm glad people have found the book
useful, including people like George Monbiot and Tariq Ali and Martin
Thomas (our version of Michael Moore) and left-wing Labour MPs.
In some tiny way the book is increasing the chances of survival of
children in Iraq, that is its purpose and I have to be content with
that.
==================================
This message has been brought to you by ZNet (http://www.zmag.org). Visit our site for subscription options.
No comments:
Post a Comment