Iraq Bioweapons Program

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Salman Pak (Iraq)
Salman Pak
Salman Pak

The biological weapons program of Iraq was from May 1987 to January 1991.

On April 7, 1931 , Iraq joined the Geneva Protocol on the Prohibition of the Use of Asphyxiating, Toxic or Similar Gases and of Bacteriological Agents in the War of June 17, 1925 . The entry into force for Iraq took place on September 8, 1931. Furthermore, Iraq signed the Bioweapons Convention on May 11, 1972 . Despite this ban, Iraq developed biological weapons as part of Project 324 from May 1987 to January 1991 and made them operational by early 1991.

Hussein camel

Beginnings

During the First Gulf War , General Hussein gave Kamel the task of initiating a biological weapons program. The Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization , headed by Hussein Kamel, was responsible for the Iraqi missile program and the development of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Deputy and subordinate were Lieutenant General Amer al Sa'adi and Lieutenant General Amer M. Rashid.

Chemical weapons were developed in Project 922 , Iraq's chemical weapons program. Its head, Lieutenant General Nizar Attar, commissioned the microbiologist Dr. Rihab Taha, who just came from England, to start a laboratory-scale experimental program in al-Muthanna.

Dr. Taha first selected Bacillus anthracis and botulinum toxin as suitable biological weapons . Agents procured the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus subtilis , Bacillus megaterium and Clostridium perfringens from abroad in December 1985 . Clostridium botulinum and Francisella tularensis were added by April 1986 . Iraq's leading microbiologist, Professor Nasser Hindawi, was born in 1986 on the advice of Dr. Taha was involved in the project as a senior adviser.

Structures

In 1987 Major General Faiz Shahin (former deputy of the Al-Hazen-Ibn-Al-Haitham Institute) became head of Project 922 through a restructuring . Major General Faiz Shahin pushed the production of biological weapons from the laboratory scale to industrial production. To date, just 1/10 of the capacity of the chemical weapons program has been devoted to biological weapons development. In May 1987, al-Muthanna's biological weapons program was outsourced and an independent center was established in Salman Pak, near Baghdad. Head of the BW program, which has been run independently under the name Project 324 since March 1988 , was General Ahmed Murtada, and "mastermind" of the approximately 100 specialists was Dr. Rihab Taha.

Trials and Production

From 1988 to 1990 pilot plants were built and different ammunition was tested in shooting and animal experiments. In August 1990, with the invasion of Kuwait , Hussein Kamel gave the order to expand biological weapons production. Other production sites, such as in Al Fudaliyah, Al Hakam, etc. a. followed. The ammunition with biological weapons always took place in Al-Muthanna.

List of biological test explosive devices:

specification size biological weapon Amount per
explosive device
Aerial bomb BR-250 kg Clostridium botulinum 60 liters
Aerial bomb BR-250 kg Bacillus subtilis 60 liters
Artillery ammunition 130 mm Ricin 2.5 liters
Rocket launcher 122 mm Aflatoxin 8 liters

Operational readiness

The project 144 , the development of reichweitenverlängerten R-17 with the name Al Hussein , the production envisaged of warheads to Munitionierung with biological weapons. From August 2, 1990, 25 warheads were manufactured for filling with biological weapons, as well as 157 R-400A aerial bombs. Between December 1990 and January 11, 1991 these weapons were filled with Clostridium botulinum, Bacillus anthracis and aflatoxin and ready for use. However, Saddam Hussein chose not to use these weapons in the Second Gulf War . With the beginning of the Second Gulf War (January 17, 1991), Iraq stopped the production of biological weapons. Iraq declared the amount of biological weapons at that time as:

specification amount
Clostridium botulinum 7,500 liters
Bacillus anthracis 3,400 liters
Aflatoxin 340 liters

About 150,000 US soldiers were preventively vaccinated against anthrax during the Second Gulf War.

See also: → Gulf War Syndrome

On February 5, 2003, US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented a model to the United Nations Security Council to illustrate Bacillus anthracis :
" This is just about the amount of a teaspoon [...] ".

disarmament

By UN resolution 687 (1991) of April 8, 1991, Iraq was bound to have all investigations carried out with regard to the Geneva Protocol and, if available, to destroy biological weapons. On June 19, 1991, Iraq ratified the Bioweapons Convention.

From 9-10 In July 1991, on the instructions of Hussein Kamel, all existing biological weapons were destroyed by the Iraqi side. The biological warheads were chemically deactivated and destroyed in Al-Nibai. According to Iraqi information, the destruction was completed in a month.

One of the reasons for the Iraq war was that Iraq (still) had biological weapons of mass destruction that would pose an acute threat. This could not be corroborated.

Remarks

  1. ↑ With knowledge and approval from Saddam Hussein .
  2. ↑ Dr. Taha (called "Dr. Germ") was married to Amer M. Rashid and had a PhD from the University of East Anglia , Norwich . → See: bbc.co.uk , uea.ac.uk .
    Another microbiologist was Denton trained and a PhD from the University of Missouri . Huda Ammash, called "Mrs. Anthrax". → See: uea.ac.uk .
  3. ↑ American Type Culture Collection (ATCC → see: atcc.org ) delivered 36 strains of 10 pathogens to Iraq, with the knowledge and agreement of the US Department of Commerce . The order went through the University of Baghdad. → See: nti.org .
    The anthrax culture was an offshoot of a British culture that was developed during World War II . → See:   iraqwatch.org ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive )     Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 83 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iraqwatch.org
  4. ↑ All facilities were bombed and destroyed or badly damaged during the Second Gulf War.
  5. ↑ Clostridium botulinum was first dissolved in formalin in a three-step process , heated to 121 degrees and treated with potassium permanganate .
    Bacillus anthracis heated to 121 degrees, added formalin and also dissolved in potassium permanganate.
    Aflatoxin is similarly added to bleach, heated and dissolved in potassium permanganate. → See: Final report of the UN
  6. ^ This is also the case with Hussein Kamel in an interview with Rolf Ekéus on August 25, 1995 . → See: downingstreetmemo.com (PDF; 466 kB)
  7. ↑ The sources are based on the Iraqi defector Rafid Ahmed Alwan .
    US Secretary of State Colin Powell showed a model of a mobile bio-weapons laboratory to the United Nations Security Council on February 5, 2003 . → See: Iraq: Failing To Disarm - Slide 20 ( Memento of February 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ).
    The CIA report of May 28, 2003 spoke of six trailers and a railroad lab. → See: cia.gov (PDF; 759 kB).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ admin.ch (PDF; 493 kB) Geneva Protocol , accessed on January 22, 2013
  2. ↑ a b icrc.org Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction , accessed on January 22, 2013
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Final report of the UN (PDF; 10.0 MB) The Biological Weapons Program , accessed on January 22, 2013
  4. ↑ fas.org (PDF; 219 kB) A PROFILE OF WMD PROLIFERANTS , accessed on January 24, 2013
  5. ↑ RESOLUTION 687 (1991)