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Saturday, February 22, 2003
posted by gbarto at 1:59 AM:
Blix Tells Iraq to Destroy MissilesWeapons exceed U.N. range limits
Iraq is allowed to have missiles up to 93 miles, which means it can hit neighboring Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria and Jordan -- but not Israel. But some former inspectors insist the technology Iraq chose for the Al Samoud 2 was clearly intended to support missile systems with longer ranges.So... these missiles are illegal. They were warned they would be illegal before they built them. But I know, I know, material breach just ain't what it used to be. So the Iraqis have until March 1st to start the missile destruction process. If nothing else, this shows the utility of the time limits the Bush administration has been whispering about: they're at least forcing the UN to press for action.
David Kay, a chief nuclear weapons inspector after the Gulf War, said he believes the Al-Samoud tests indicate Iraq is developing missiles to go consistently beyond 93 miles.
"I think it is worrying," he said, noting that the former U.N. inspection team told the Iraqis in 1997 that the Al Samoud missiles they were then building would exceed the limit "and not to do it."
"They went ahead," Kay said. "The Iraqis understood that if the payload were lighter it would go further. They played the game from very early on."
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