NOTHING AT CHEM PLANT
NOTHING AT CHEM PLANT: WaPo (639 EST) reports: U.S. Finds Nothing at Iraq Chemical Plant
U.S. military investigators have found no evidence that chemical weapons have been made in recent years at a suspect chemical plant secured by U.S. troops in southern Iraq, a senior defense official said Tuesday.
Before the war, American intelligence agencies had identified the site in the town of Najaf as a possible part of Iraq’s chemical weapons program, the official said, speaking on condition he not be identified. Indications then were that the plant had not been used for banned weapons activities since 1998, the official said.
A shame that we didn’t stumble onto a major find here. But it is worth remembering that finding WMDs is not the immediate mission at hand. Right now, toppling the regime is Job One. Once that’s accomplished, we can root out chemical plants at our leisure.
