U.S. AIDES SAY IRAQUIS MADE USE OF A NERVE GAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87R00029R000300630002-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 7, 2008
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: March 30, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/11/07: CIA-RDP87R00029R000300630002-6
Approved For Release 2008/11/07: CIA-RDP87R00029R000300630002-6
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Approved For Release 2008/11/07: CIA-RDP87R00029R000300630002-6
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US. Aides Say
Iraqis Made Use
Of a Nerve Gas
Assert Lab Gear Came
From West Gentians
By SEYMOUR M. liERSH
Special to The New York Time' ?
WASHINGTON, March 29 ? United
States intelligence officials say they
have obtained what they believe to be
incontrovertible evidence that Iraq has
used nerve gas in its war with Iran and
Is nearing completion of extensive sites
for the mass production of the lethal
chemical warfare agent.
Pentagon, State Department and in-
telligence officials said in interviews
this week that the evidence included
documentation that Iraq has been buy-
ing laboratory equipment from a West
German company, purchases that are
believed to be linked to Iraq's nerve
gas production plans.
The intelligence also shows, the offi-
cials said, that Iraq has as many as five
dispersed sites for the storage, produc-
tion and assembly of nerve gas weep-
ons. Without intervention, these offi-
cials said, Iraq is estimated to be
weeks or months away from the ability
to mount major chemical attacks
against Iran's far more numerous
troops. '
Deep Underground Bunkers
Each of the sites, the officials said,
has been built in deep underground
bunkers, heavily fortified by concrete,
that are reported to be six stories below
the surface. Officials said the Iraqi
concern appeared to be protection from
an air attack.
Neither the White House nor the
State Department we...tad formally com-
ment today on the intelligence informa-
tion.
If full-scale chemical war develops,
one senior American official said, "the
genie is out of the bottle." He added:
"Arms cOntrol is down the drain. And
we've got our tercet, Completely at
risk." The official warned that because
of the nature of chemical weapons,
huge doses of which can be transported
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: in small canisters, it would be virtually
Impossible to effectively monitor the
spread of such weapons to other coun-
tries.
In 1909 the United States reaffirmed
its renunciation of the first use of
chemical warfare, and it later reduced
Its preparations to defend against a
chemical war. The United States has
accused Iraq of using chemical weap-
ons in the war with Iran, but Baghdad
has denied the charge.
A senior official said this week that
the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been asked
to provide what he termed a "velimi-
nary look" at the feasibility of an
American air strike on the fortified
sites, but concluded there were not
enough American aircraft in appropri-
ate locations.
This official went on to say that there
were many in the Government who, re-
calling the successful Israeli air attack
in 1981 on what was determined to be an
Iraqi nuclear plant, would like to see
the Israeli Air Force attack again.
Some sensitive high-level conversa-
tions on the issue between the United
States and Israel have already taken
place, the official added.
This information could not be con-
firmed, although many American offi-
cials, in interviews, volunteered their
personal judgment that such an attack
would be one welcome solution to the
problem.
A senior State Department official
described his frustration over the
issue. "It's not lack of knowledge at
high revels," he said. "It's been in all
the high-rollers' briefing books. The
Iraqis appear to be ready to do any-
thing. The question is what do we do?
Should we cast a major air strike?
That's a big move." The official ac-
knowledged hearing "speculation"
that the Israelis might, be 'ready to
move," but added that such talk was in
his view only talk.
The inteligence, which was provided
from sources depicted as being "better
than on-site," has been repeatedly and
forcefully presented to President Rea-
gan in the last week, the officials said,
with the White House not yet providing
any poliey guidance.
Officials said that on three occasions
within the week the Central Intelli-
gence Agency, to dramatize its concern
over the intelligence, had emphasized,
or "red lined," the relevant infomaa-
don on Iraq's chemical war abilities in
the President's daily intelligence brief,
one of the most highly classified docu-
ments in the Government. This infor-
mation it prepared overnight by the
C.I.A. and presented early each morn-
ing to the President.
? Praise for C.LA. Director
One official, reflecting the frustra-
tion of many in the intelligence field,
praised William J. Casey, the Director
of Central Intelligence, for having "the
guts to stand up and fight," adding,
"He's given the correct information to
the White House and it's up to them."
The State Department said on March
5 that the United States had concluded
that the available evidence indicated
that lethal chemical weapons were
being used by Iraq against Iran, in
violation of the Geneva Protocol of
1925, which Iraq agreed to adhere to in
1931. At the time of the statement an
Administration official said the chemi-
cal weapon being used by the Iraqis
seemed to be mustard gas, a blistering
agent. At that time Iran accused the
Iraqis of using nerve gas and nitrogen
mustard, but the Administration said
there was no evidence Iraq had used
nerve gas.
One reason for hesitation over the
issue, a White House official acknowl-
edged, is the traditional concern of in-
telligence officials for the protection of
"sources and methods." The specific
information about the extent of Iraqi
nerve gas development is said to have
been derived from unusually sensitive
sources.
rove Iraq Used Gas
can representation was said to have
been at a relatively low level, not in-
volving Arthur F. Bums, the American
Ambassador.
"We don't want to be screaming and
shouting at them," one State Depart-
ment official said, in explaining the
low-key American approach, 'because
we don't have the answers ourselves to
the problem" ? that of determining
Whether a seemingly ordinary ship-
ment of chemical and laboratory
equipment is secretly intended to
produce chemical warfare agents.
"Of course they're sensitive," the of-
ficial said of the West German Govern-
ment. "They're perfectly aware of
their own history. They have, a problem
and they have to scramble to figure out
how to deal with it. Meanwhile, we're
friends of theirs and we have to help
them figure it out."
"It's a tongh question, with no good
answers," one State Department offi-
cial said. "It's fair to say that the Ger-
man Government has not been sitting
back for the last two years, although
it's perfectly true that none of these
people knew what is going on. Now we
come up with new information and we
tell them and they go `Yecch ? what a
mess.' "
"What can we do?" the official
added, noting that the private company
in West Germany had obtained appro-
priate export licensing. "How can we
put a stop to it? This isn't the sort of
t, That
official
moral
A major diplomatic complication
confronts the Administration, officials
say. American intelligence agencieis
have identified Karl Kolb, a scientific
and technical supply company in
Dreieicli, West Germany, as being re-
sponsible for the sale and shipping of
sophisticated laboratory equipment
that, intelligence officials say, has
been used ? apparently without the
company's knowledge ? to aid the
Iraqi Government in its clandestine
ability to develop a nerve gas. Sales of
equipment considered by American of-
ficials to be essential to the Iraqi effort
were said to have taken place over a
period of at least two years, with the
chemical company obtaining all of the
required export licenses from the West
German Government before shinment.
Evidence Presented to Bona
Sometime within the last month, offi-
cials said, intelligence officials ob-
tained evidence directly linking the
company's shipments to Iraqi develop-
ment of nerve gas. '
The C.I.A. relayed some of its infor-
mation and its concern directly to the
United States Embassy in Bonn, an of-
ficial said, which in turn made a diplo-
matic representation to the West Ger-
man Government. The official Ameri-
thing you can solve ove
may sound sort of callous,"
added, "but to getup on a
ground doesn't solve anything. In
practical terms, we want to put the
genie back in the bottle. What is trou-
bling is the potential."
Serves as a Broker
The Karl Kolb company, which does
serves as a broker or agent for various
manufacturers, is reported to have
been under observation for an extended
period by American intelligence offi-
cials. Intelligence officials said that the
Reagan Administration now had evi-
dence that the company had made
large-scale sales of laboratory equip-
ment, all appropriately licensed, to
many third-world nations.
Peter Hermes, the West German
Ambassador in Washington, said in an
Interview that the Kolb company had
been delivering what he termed "cer-
tain facilities' to Iraq. "They hate
ar plant for the
es," the Ambas-
sador said, adding that such equipment
was not subject to special export licens-
ing in West Germany.
"Equipment for the plant," the Am-
bassador said, "is not yet delivered and
assemply is not completed. The whole
plant a not ready for production. This
is all I know."
In B01111 today, a spokesman for the
ECODOMiCS Ministry said an investiga-
tion had determined that a pesticide
lant, scheduled to go into operation in
September, had been sold to Iraq by the
Kolb company. But a senior executive
of the company denied such a sale had
taken place.
American officials, in the interviews
this week, depicted their information
as being conclusive. The evidence is
"overwhelming," a senior official said.
He complained about what he termed
the failure of the White House to as-
sume an aggressive role in dealing with
the new intelligence on Iraq. "This
demonstrates," he said, "that the Ad-
ministration has no staff capable of
reaching decisions in areas as critical
as this." ?
Note of Caution From Aide
One Administration official did cau-
tion that the intelligence he had seen
had yet to be formally confirmed, say-
ing: "If anything, the Iraqis might
have a testing lab but I'm not con-
vinced by the evidence. The intelli-
gence might be proven right; it might
be proven wrong. I don't think anybody
knows." This official acknewledged
that he had perhaps not seen the most
recent intelligence reports provided in
the last week to the White House.
One as yet unresolved issue revolves
around the amount of time iraq would
need actually to been/the large-scale
production of nerve gas. The agent
under development, the officials said,
is Tabun, developed al. the first lethal
gas of its kind in late 19303 by German
scientisti, and made in large quantities
by the Germans in World War II. Ex-
perts depict Tabun as the agent closest
in chemical makeup to certain power-
ful insecticides and describe its produc-
tion as being relatively simple, given
the proper raw chemicals and equip-
ment.
The most critical stage in produc-
tion, experts said, is the assembling
and loading of artillery shells, bombs
and other munitions. A senior State De-
partment official cautioned that there
was still time to deal with the issue. "It
may be the case that Iraq is not as ad-
vanced today as being able to manufac-
ture" gas weapons, he said.. Inte,lli-
gence officials agreed that Iraq might
not be able immediately to mass-
produce Tabun, but depicted that stage
at being only "months away."
In a report made public Monday, a
United Nations team said it had found
samples of Tabun as well as mustard
gas during an on-site inspection two
weeks ago in the war zone. The report
did not specifically charge Iraq with
agreed to deliver a
tici
production of
using the iveaponk but did conclude
that chemical weapons had been used
recently in areas being contested by
Iran and Iraq.
? Astonishing Success Reported
These officials said the C.I.A. had
concluded Tabun was used this month
against an Iranian mass ground as-
sault, causing heavy casualties. The
Tabun used in that attack, one official
said, apparently came from Iraq's re-
search and development stockpile,
which had previously been used only on
animals in tests.
The success of the nerve agent was
astonishing, the official said. "Military
analysts, looking at how the Iranians
retreated after what seemed to be an
insignificant attack, could not under-
stand it," the official added. "They
pulled way back. As far as our military
people are concerned, it's only a ques-
tion of ixtbeproductionr capacity before they
attack
t
One White House official, after cau-
tioning that he was speaking without of-
ficial sanction, described the issue of
how to respond as far more complicat-
ed. "What would you do?" he asked.
"How do we handle our own technical
transfer" of goods ? such as the few
chemicals used in nerve gas production
? which also have legitimate commer-
cial uses?
"It's a very frustrating experience
for a government," the official added.
Defense Department officials said
that in recent months there had been a
tightening of the licensing procedures
for certain chemicals that could have
alternate uses in warfare. At least one
fully licensed shipment of chemicals
bound for Iraq, scheduled to be shipped
by an American company, was stopped
after it was concita,!ed the chemicals
could be used in thdproduction of mus-
tard gas. "It was the urgency of the
shipment that troubled us," the official
said, -explaining that the chemicals
were to be air-freighted to Iraq.
Another official noting that there
was an urgent need for expanded au-
thority to monitor overseas shipments
of chemical and laboratory goods, said
the Government had no legal authority ,
to Intercept the shipment of chemicals,
but did so only because the air freight
corn.. y agreed not to forward the
? s. "We got the shipment stopped
- use he was a nice guy," the official
said. .
Israel's Mipister of Science
Deplores Chemical Warfare
Special to The New York Times
TEL AVIV, March 29 ? Israel's
Minister of Science and Development
says allegations of Iraqi use of chemi-
cal warfQo against Iran should be of
concern to Israelis.
The minister, Yuval Neeman, inter-
viewed by the Israeli radio Wednesday,
said Israel must follow such develop-
ments very closely.
Charging that Egypt bad-used gas in
Yemen in 1966 and 1987, he asseite4
that Arabs had always been known to
have no scruples about using unconvene
tional weapons.
? Professor Neeman, a prominent nu-
clear physicist, said the 'developments
vindicated Israel's bombing of the
Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981.
Approved For Release 2008/11/07 : CIA-RDP87R00029R000300630002-6