Myth: Syria harbours Iraqi WMD
The charge:
''There is mounting evidence that at least some of Saddam Hussein's missing weapons of mass destruction are in Syria, smuggled there by the Iraqi dictator for safekeeping before the beginning of the war. Part of the stockpile the coalition forces have so far failed to find in Iraq was probably destroyed; part is likely still hidden. But a massively lethal amount of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons is stored alongside Syria's own stockpiles of WMDs.''
www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39182
The reality:
- There is no evidence for the unsubstantiated rumours that Syria harbours, or harboured, Iraq’s infamous WMD. The Iraq Survey Group’s own final report on the subject confirms this. The ISG was a fact-finding mission sent by the coalition after the 2003 invasion of Iraq to find WMD programmes developed under the regime of Saddam Hussein, consisting of a 1,400-member team organised by the Pentagon and CIA. The full text of the report is available at:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/2004/isg-final-report/
- An addendum to the report, dated March 2005 and entitled ‘Prewar Moment of WMD Material out of Iraq’, deals with the rumours about Syria, and confirms that US investigators hunting for WMD in Iraq found no evidence that such material was moved to Syria for safekeeping before the war: “Based on the evidence available at present, ISG judged that it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place.” From:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/2005/isg-addendums_mar2005.pdf
- Syria broke off diplomatic relations with Baghdad in 1982 as a result of Syria’s siding with Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. The relationship between the two countries under Saddam deteriorated further during the first Gulf War, in which Syria participated in the US-led international coalition that was formed to defend Saudi Arabia and liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion. It is only recently (April 2005) that diplomatic relations between the two countries have resumed.
- Allegations over Syria's role in harbouring WMD arouse solely due to America's failure to find WMD, the alleged presence of which was the public justification for the war. In fact, no WMD were found, and the ISG’s conclusions are that Saddam's Iraq did not possess nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. See The New York Times, April 30, 2005, ‘Puncturing Another Weapons Myth’: “The last refuge of those who continue to insist that Saddam Hussein must have had weapons of mass destruction was virtually eliminated by the chief weapons inspector this week. Not willing to accept the unpalatable truth that the search for WMD in Iraq had come up empty...”
www.query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30813F63A550C738FDDAD0894DD404482
- Not only does Syria not harbour WMD, but it was Syria that in April 2003 introduced a draft UN resolution aiming to ban them from the entire Middle East. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2955161.stm
The only country in the region which does harbour the most deadly WMD of all - nuclear weapons - is Israel. Its nuclear weapons are held contrary to international law, but due to US support it escapes the international action with which other countries that even contemplate a nuclear programme are threatened. Needless to say, Syria’s motion to rid the region of WMD was rejected due to the lack of US support. See UN Security Council resolutions concerning Israel’s nuclear weapons at:
http://www.arabmediawatch.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=34