Lest We Forget Uncle Sam Lies
Read Time:5 Minute, 20 Second
February 5 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the day the US lied to the world at the United Nations which paved the way for a disastrous intervention in Iraq
If Uncle Sam lied in 2003 how can we be sure he isn’t lying in 2023?
2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the United States fabricating a false pretext to invade Iraq. On February 5 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell made the false claim that Iraq had possession of weapons of mass destruction at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York
Powell a non interventionist since his days as a Vietnam War veteran, US Army general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs made a case for war with Iraq with the world watching on CNN.
Seated before members of the UNSC, Powell held up a vial that he said was the size that could be used to hold anthrax.
“My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources — solid sources,” he said. “These are not assertions. What we’re giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.” “Saddam Hussein has chemical weapons,” Powell said.
“Saddam Hussein has used such weapons. And Saddam Hussein has no compunction about using them again — against his neighbours, and against his own people.”
“The material I will present to you comes from a variety of sources. Some are U.S. sources. And some are those of other countries.”
“Some of the sources are technical, such as intercepted telephone conversations and photos taken by satellites. Other sources are people who have risked their lives to let the world know what Saddam Hussein is really up to.”
“I cannot tell you everything that we know. But what I can share with you, when combined with what all of us have learned over the years, is deeply troubling.”
He presented reconnaissance photos, elaborate maps and charts, and even taped phone conversations between senior members of Iraq’s military.
“First, you will recall that it took UNSCOM four long and frustrating years to pry – to pry – an admission out of Iraq that it had biological weapons.”
“Second, when Iraq finally admitted having these weapons in 1995, the quantities were vast. Less than a teaspoon of dry anthrax, a little bit about this amount – this is just about the amount of a teaspoon – less than a teaspoon full of dry anthrax in an envelope shut down the United States Senate in the fall of 2001. This forced several hundred people to undergo emergency medical treatment and killed two postal workers just from an amount just about this quantity that was inside of an envelope.” Powell claiming that Iraqi anthrax killed two US postal workers.
“Let me take you inside that intelligence file and share with you what we know from eyewitness accounts. We have firsthand descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and on rails.”
“The trucks and train cars are easily moved and are designed to evade detection by inspectors. In a matter of months, they can produce a quantity of biological poison equal to the entire amount that Iraq claimed to have produced in the years prior to the Gulf War.”
“Although Iraq’s mobile production program began in the mid-1990s, U.N. inspectors at the time only had vague hints of such programs. Confirmation came later, in the year 2000.”
Powell asserted that “there can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has biological weapons and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more.” Powell also stated that there was “no doubt in my mind that Saddam was working to obtain key components to produce nuclear weapons.”
Powell repeatedly used one phrase during his hour-long speech: “weapons of mass destruction.” He said those words a total of 17 times. It was the phrase the Bush administration kept publicly using to help justify invading Iraq.
U.S. Army (USA) M1A1 Abrams MBT (Main Battle Tank), and personnel from A Company (CO), Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment (1-35 Armor), 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 1st Armored Division (AD), pose for a photo under the “Victory Arch” in Ceremony Square, Baghdad, Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Hands of Victory monument built at the end of the Iran-Iraq war marks the entrance to a large parade ground in central Baghdad. The hand and arm are modeled after former dictator Saddam Hussein’s own and surrounded with thousands of Iranian helmets taken from the battlefield. The swords made from the guns of dead Iraqi soldiers, melted and recast into the 24-ton blades.
After the invasion, following public outcry. “WHERE ARE THE WMDs?” The Bush administration commissioned the Iraq Survey Group to determine whether in fact any WMD existed in Iraq. After a year and half of meticulously searching the country, the inspectors reported: “While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared weapons stockpile in 1991.”
In 1991! After the liberation of Kuwait from the grips of Iraq, Baghdad destroyed its stock of chemical weapons. The report went on. “There are no credible indications that Baghdad resume production of chemical munitions thereafter, a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad’s desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered.”
No mention of biological or nuclear weapons as Powell alleged in his UNSC speech. The review was conducted by Charles A. Duelfer Chief weapons inspector and the Iraq Survey Group. In October 2004, Bush said of Duelfer’s analysis: “The chief weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, has now issued a comprehensive report that confirms the earlier conclusion of David Kay that Iraq did not have the weapons that our intelligence believed were there.”
In September 2005, Powell was asked about the speech during an interview with Barbara Walters and responded that it was a “blot” on his record. He went on to say, “It will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It’s painful now.” Painful that he participated in a hoax on the American people and the global community that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
Powell, died on October 18, 2021 while being treated for multiple myeloma, at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 84.
Akowe writes from Lagos
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