This has been a very interesting question to research, and some of the
material I've found is widely accepted as factual. However, history
hasn't had time to give its verdict on all the information available.
I have decided to include some reports which have not been established
as correct beyond doubt, and hope you will find it interesting to
weigh up their likely accuracy for yourself.
It appears that both US and UK suppliers contributed to the Iraqi
chemical and biological programmes in the 1980s, before the first Gulf
War, when their policy was still based on the idea that Iraq was more
of an ally than some other Middle Eastern countries.
When you've had a chance to read through the excerpts and follow up
the links, please let me know if I can clarify anything. I should
point out that I can only quote small extracts here for copyright
reasons so I do suggest that you look at the webpages cited for
further information.
===========
US SUPPLIES
===========
"The CDC [Center for Disease Control] and a biological-sample company,
the American Type Culture Collection, sent strains of all the germs
Iraq used to make weapons, including anthrax, the bacteria that make
botulinum toxin, and the germs that cause gas gangrene, the records
show. Iraq also got samples of other deadly pathogens, including West
Nile virus.
The transfers came in the 1980s, when the United States backed Iraq in
its war against Iran. They were detailed in a 1994 Senate Banking
Committee report and a 1995 follow-up letter from the CDC to the
Senate."
Iraq got germs for weapons program from U.S. in '80s
The CDC and a biological-sample firm sent strains of anthrax and more,
government records show.
By Matt Kelley
Associated Press
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/nation/4185241.htm.
"The US provided less conventional military equipment than British or
German companies but it did allow the export of biological agents,
including anthrax; vital ingredients for chemical weapons; and cluster
bombs sold by a CIA front organisation in Chile, the report says.
A 1994 congressional inquiry also found that dozens of biological
agents, including various strains of anthrax, had been shipped to Iraq
by US companies, under licence from the commerce department.
Furthermore, in 1988, the Dow Chemical company sold $1.5m-worth
(£930,000) of pesticides to Iraq despite suspicions they would be used
for chemical warfare."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,866942,00.html
"We found that pathogenic, which means disease-producing items, and
toxigenic, meaning poisonous items, and other hazardous materials were
exported from the United States to Iraq following a licensing and
application procedure actually set forth by our own United States
Department of Commerce.
That meant our own Government had to approve the shipment of these
materials and obviously did so - approving the shipment of these items
to Iraq before the war started.
Now, we further learned by talking to the suppliers that these
exported biological materials were not weakened when they were shipped
over there. In other words, many were full pathogens capable of being
reproduced by Iraq once they got there. Between the years of 1985 and
1989, the United States Government approved the sales of quantities of
potentially lethal biological agents that could have been cultured and
grown in very large quantities in an Iraqi biological warfare
program."
Congressional Record (Senate) February 9, 1994
Mr Riegle - U.S. Senator
Chair, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Washington, DC
http://www.svsu.edu/~boles/index/iraq/ussuppliesiraqgas.htm
"When United Nations weapons inspectors were allowed into Iraq after
the 1991 Gulf War, they compiled long lists of chemicals, missile
components, and computers from American suppliers, including such
household names as Union Carbide and Honeywell, which were being used
for military purposes.
A 1994 investigation by the Senate Banking Committee turned up dozens
of biological agents shipped to Iraq during the mid-'80s under license
from the Commerce Department, including various strains of anthrax,
subsequently identified by the Pentagon as a key component of the
Iraqi biological warfare program. The Commerce Department also
approved the export of insecticides to Iraq, despite widespread
suspicions that they were being used for chemical warfare.
Although U.S. export controls to Iraq were tightened up in the late
1980s, there were still many loopholes. In December 1988, Dow Chemical
sold $1.5 million of pesticides to Iraq, despite U.S. government
concerns that they could be used as chemical warfare agents. An
Export-Import Bank official reported in a memorandum that he could
find "no reason" to stop the sale, despite evidence that the
pesticides were "highly toxic" to humans and would cause death "from
asphyxiation."
U.S. Had Key Role in Iraq Buildup
Trade in Chemical Arms Allowed Despite Their Use on Iranians, Kurds
By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 30, 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A52241-2002Dec29¬Found=true
"Fresh details about how America helped to supply Iraq with weapons
during the 1980s have emerged with the release of declassified
documents from the period."
America helped Iraq to acquire chemical weapons
By Toby Harnden
Daily Telegraph 31/12/2002
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/12/31/wirq31.xml
============================================================
===========
UK SUPPLIES
===========
"A classified U.S. Defense Department document showed Iraq had bought
pralidoxine -- an antidote to nerve gas -- from Britain in March 1992,
after the Gulf War."
"U.S., Britain Helped Iraq Develop Chemical And Biological Weapons"
Reuters, February 12, 1998.
http://csf.colorado.edu/mail/psn/mar98/0000.html
"A chemical plant which the US says is a key component in Iraq's
chemical warfare arsenal was secretly built by Britain in 1985 behind
the backs of the Americans, the Guardian can disclose.
Documents show British ministers knew at the time that the £14m plant,
called Falluja 2, was likely to be used for mustard and nerve gas
production.
[...]
Paul Channon, then trade minister, concealed the existence of the
chlorine plant contract from the US administration, which was pressing
for controls on such exports.
[...]
The British taxpayer was even forced to write a compensation cheque
for £300,000 to the German-owned company [Uhde] after final checks on
the plant, completed in May 1990, were interrupted by the outbreak of
the Gulf war.
The Falluja 2 chlorine plant, 50 miles outside Baghdad, near the
Habbaniya airbase, has been pinpointed by the US as an example of a
factory rebuilt by Saddam to regain his chemical warfare capability.
Last night, Uhde Ltd's parent company in Dortmund, Germany, issued a
statement confirming that their then UK subsidiary had built Falluja 2
for Iraq's chemical weapons procurement agency, the State Enterprise
for Pesticide Production.
A company spokesman said: "This was a normal plant for the production
of chlorine and caustic soda. It could not produce other products"
Paul Channon [...] issued a statement through his secretary, who said:
"He can't object to the story. So he's got no comment.".
Britain's dirty secret
David Leigh and John Hooper
Thursday March 6, 2003
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,908426,00.html
More on the story above from the same newspaper on the same day.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,908237,00.html
============================================================
===============
GERMAN SUPPLIES
===============
Apart from the German-owned firm Uhde (see article above), there are
persistent stories of German companies selling military equipment of
all kinds to Iraq, some of it helpful for the development of
biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.
"MANNHEIM, Germany -- Two German businessmen were convicted today of
breaking arms export laws and violating the U.N. embargo by helping
Iraq acquire large drills that can be used to bore tubes for a
long-range cannon capable of firing nuclear, biological or chemical
shells.
Engineer Bernd Schompeter, 59, the main defendant, was sentenced to
five years and three months.
[...]
Presiding Judge Michael Seidling told the Mannheim state court that
Schompeter "knew exactly what was going on" and "was aware of the
military sensitivity of the matter."
Jan. 31, 2003, 10:08AM
German businessmen convicted in Iraq arms deals
Associated Press
Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/iraq/1759124
"Saddam Hussein is developing nuclear capability, using pirated
centrifuges to refine uranium
[...]
Before their expulsion, the inspectors dismantled an illegally
imported German centrifuge installation that had been used to refine
progressively natural or low-enriched uranium until it becomes
suitable for weapons.
But Dr Hamza said that by then the ?cat was out the bag?.
The key was provided, he said, when the German Karl Schaab smuggled in
the centrifuge in 1989 and later helped Iraq to build a second. ?We
videoed as it was put up, so we could build identical ones. Then he
also provided 130 classified documents and charts detailing every
aspect of the construction."
September 16, 2002
Iraq operates nuclear weapons assembly line, defector claims
By Paul Martin
The Times (London)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-416705,00.html
============================================================
=========================
A FULL LIST OF SUPPLIERS?
=========================
In December 2002, during the tense months before the war, the Iraqis
submitted a report to the UN on their arms programmes. They said that
it would include details of all their suppliers.
The BBC reported:
"Iraq's declaration on its banned arms programme appears to contain
the names of foreign suppliers - threatening potentially embarrassing
revelations about countries involved.
The contents page of the mammoth document indicates that more than
three dozen pages deal with sources which have supplied Iraq with
materials to make weapons proscribed by the United Nations.
The declaration runs to 12,000 pages
In the section on chemical weapons, some 34 pages list suppliers,
eight pages cover contracts and agreements, and three pages deal with
foreign technical assistance."
Tuesday, 10 December, 2002
Iraq dossier: First breakdown
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2561091.stm
The BBC report goes on to say:
"Experts from the UK, US, France, Russia and China are censoring
potentially dangerous sections of the dossier before releasing a
working version for wider distribution among the other members of the
Security Council."
This dossier has not been made public by the UN. One reporter claimed
to have a copy of it and published information about Iraq's military
suppliers in the Tageszeitung, a German newspaper sometimes described
as left-wing. The paper said it had omitted the names of 80 German
companies which were in the original document.
The US mainstream media does not seem to have commented on the
Tageszeitung article, and nor have the most conservative British
newspapers. Other British newspapers, not generally considered
left-wing, have run articles which sound as if they are convinced by
the report, but of course there is a shortage of hard evidence.
The Independent, a "respectable" London newspaper, published an
article which claims, "British officials said the list of companies
appeared to be accurate."
"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."
18 December 2002
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=362566
On the Independent website the article is pay-to-view, but it has been
republished on a website "for the progressive community".
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1218-06.htm
Scotland on Sunday's report includes:
"Iraq?s report says that equipment was sent by more than 80 German
companies, 24 American, and 17 British, as well as by a number of
Swiss, Japanese, Italian, French, Swedish and Brazilian firms. It says
that more than 30 countries supplied equipment for its nuclear
programme alone.
The activities of the British companies all took place before Iraq?s
invasion of Kuwait in 1990, according to the dossier. But it says that
some German companies have co-operated with Iraq more recently.
Russian and Chinese companies have also moved in as more Western
companies have accepted the ban and steered clear of Iraq.
[...]
Both the US and the UN are trying to keep the names of Iraq?s foreign
suppliers secret, and large parts of the document have been excised in
advance of copies being handed to the non-permanent members of the
Security Council. "
West tries to shield companies that made a monster of Baghdad
IAN MATHER
Sun 22 Dec 2002
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1422882002
(free registration required to read the article)
German companies named in dossier
By Katya Adler
BBC Berlin correspondent
Tuesday, 17 December, 2002
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2584975.stm
So what and who was in the Tageszeitung report of the Iraqi document?
The full list includes suppliers of all kinds of weapons. Use the code
A=atomic, B=biological, C=chemical to focus on the categories you have
asked about.
(R stands for rocket, K is for conventional weapons)
A list in English was printed in an anti-war column in the Sydney
Morning Herald which says:
"Also designated as suppliers for Iraq's arms programs (A, B, C & R)
are the US Ministries of Defense, Energy, Trade and Agriculture as
well as the Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia National
Laboratories."
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/22/1042911434942.html
This is the original list from the Tageszeitung:
http://www.taz.de/pt/2002/12/19/a0080.nf/textdruck
So, according to their list, as compiled by the Iraqi government for
the dossier they gave the UN, the answer to your question would be a
number of German companies plus these:
USA
---
TI Coating (A, K)
Unisys (A, K)
Tektronix (R, A)
Leybold Vacuum Systems (A)
Finnigan-MAT-US (A)
Hewlett-Packard (A, R, K)
Dupont (A)
American Type Culture Collection (B)
Alcolac International (C)
Consarc (A)
Cerberus (LTD) (A)
International Computer Systems (A, R, K)
Canberra Industries Inc. (A)
Axel Electronics Inc. (A)
China
-----
China Wanbao Engineering Company (A, C, K)
France
------
Commissariat a lEnergie Atomique (A)
Sciaky (A)
Thomson CSF (A, K)
Cerbag (A)
Protec SA (C)
Thales Group (A)
Societé Général pour les Techniques Nouvelles (A)
UK
--
Euromac Ltd-Uk (A)
C. Plath-Nuclear (A)
Endshire Export Marketing (A)
International Computer Systems (A, R, K)
MEED International (A, C)
International Computer Limited (A, K)
Matrix Churchill Corp. (A)
Ali Ashour Daghir (A)
Inwako (A)
XYY Options, Inc (A)
Japan
-----
Fanuc (A)
Hammamatsu Photonics KK (A)
NEC (A)
Osaka (A)
Waida (A)
Netherlands
-----------
Melchemie B.V. (C)
KBS Holland B.V. (C)
Belgium
-------
Boehler Edelstahl (A)
NU Kraft Mercantile Corporation (C)
Phillips Petroleum (C)
Poudries Réunies
Sebatra (A),
Spain
-----
Zayer (A)
Sweden
ABB (A),
============================================================
=============
Other reports
=============
"The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) claims
Yugoslavia's arms deals with Iraq continued even after the ousting in
2000 of ex-President Slobodan Milosevic, known for close ties with the
Iraqi leader."
BBC Wednesday, 4 December, 2002
Report attacks arms sales to Iraq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2542739.stm
"Over the past two years, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia appears
to have sold cruise and ballistic missile and pilotless vehicle
technology to Iraq. Chemical and biological weapons and possibly their
manufacturing technology and equipment also appear to have been sold.
Yugoslavia appears to have sold Iraq anti-aircraft systems, artillery,
munitions, and constructed underground bunker complexes inside Iraq.
The combination of technologies provided by Yugoslavia could enable
the Iraqi government to create an inexpensive cruise missile with
weapons of mass destruction."
24 November 2002
Sunday Herald (Glasgow)
http://www.sundayherald.com/29454
"The [CIA} official said that this particular lot of 122-mm warheads
and rockets, configured by the Iraqis to launch the nerve agent sarin,
had been purchased by the Iraqis from Egypt in the 1980s. He said
Italy also had sold Iraq 122-mm rockets and launchers during the Iraqi
war with Iran. The United States, which saw Iran as the worse of two
evils, also collaborated with the Iraqi military at the time.
http://www.no-war-on-iraq.freeserve.co.uk/worldnews013.html
This site claims to know which German companies were named as suppliers by Iraq:
http://www.expage.com/notowar7
Iraq Nuclear Weapons Program?Import Table (by Country)
produced by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey
Institute of International Studies
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e1_iraq_N_imports.html
Thank-you for a very interesting question. Please let me know if the
answer needs any clarification and I'll do my best to help.
Best Wishes - Leli
search terms used:
helped supplied suppliers
Iraq Saddam
chemical biological weapons
congressional
dossier december 2002
Tageszeitung
[names of companies on the Tageszeitung list] |
