Volume 2, Issue 6
November-December 2003

Iraqi Weapons: Five Unanswered Questions

By Shabnam Faruki

Despite the fact that no cache of mass destruction weapons has been found in Iraq, a number of crucial questions about Iraq's past weapon efforts - raised by nearly a decade of U.N. inspections - remain unanswered. Today, much of the world has concluded that Iraq's erstwhile arsenal of illegal weaponry was not an imminent threat to regional or international security. But as late as May 2003, U.N. inspectors catalogued an array of chemical and biological agents, munitions and missilry that they believed might still be in the country.

The existence of these unresolved issues cannot be taken lightly. Until the weapons are secured, or until it can be proved that they no longer exist, the distinct threat remains that they could be used. Thus, it is imperative that former U.N. inspector David Kay, who is leading America's present search for the weapons, answer the questions that have been posed. Below is a list of the top five concerns:


1. VX

The inspectors never could figure out what happened to 3.9 tonnes of VX, the deadliest kind of nerve gas. Iraq admitted producing VX in 1988 and 1990, but furnished no convincing evidence that it was destroyed in 1991, as Iraq claimed. This failure was not cured by an Iraqi report handed to inspectors in March 2003, which attempted to account for up to 63 percent of the missing VX.

2. Anthrax

The inspectors concluded that Iraq may not have destroyed about 10,000 liters of the biological agent anthrax, which if properly stored, could still be viable. Iraq admitted producing 8,425 liters of anthrax, but claimed it had disposed of all the agent in 1991, and provided inspectors with a series of technical reports aimed at substantiating the claim. However, the reports failed to prove exactly how much anthrax was disposed of.

3. Other Germ Warfare Agents

Iraq did not explain what happened to thousands of liters of other biological agent that it admitted producing, including more than 340 liters of clostridium perfringens - though inspectors concluded that Iraq had enough growth medium to have made "much larger quantities." This agent would still be viable today if properly stored. The inspectors were also unable to account for some 19,000 liters of botulinum toxin and at least 2,200 liters of aflatoxin. Neither of these agents would be viable today, but accounting for them is necessary to determine the total amount of germ agent and the individual amounts of each agent that Iraq produced.

4. Chemical and Biological Munitions

Iraq consumed 6,526 fewer chemical-filled aerial bombs - containing some 1,000 tons of agent (mostly mustard gas, but also sarin and tabun) - during the Iran-Iraq war than it claimed, according to the "Air Force document" handed over by Iraq in December 2002. Moreover, inspectors could not account for 550 mustard-filled artillery shells that Iraq claimed to have lost. The inspectors determined that Iraqi mustard gas was still of a very high quality. Also unaccounted for are 29 germ-filled bombs, some possibly containing anthrax.

5. Missiles

The inspectors were in the process of destroying illicit Al Samoud 2 missiles and related equipment but were unable to complete the task before the start of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Twenty-five missiles are still in the country, along with 38 warheads, 6 launchers, 6 command and control vehicles and 326 engines.


The list above provides a benchmark for Mr. Kay. His teams must make every effort to finally account for what happened to the deadly arsenal of weapons that was once in Iraq. The task is neither easy nor can it be accomplished quickly. Unfortunately, Mr. Kay is under political pressure to wrap up his work so that the Bush administration can move beyond Iraq's mass destruction weaponry as a political issue.

Yet, the truth is that there is important information still to be found in Iraq. Whether it leads to weapons, or to evidence proving their absence, a thorough accounting must be achieved before the books on Iraq can finally be closed.