May 9, 2006: The documents recovered in the wake of the liberation of Iraq didn't just prove connections to terrorist groups. They are also showing how Saddam Hussein was looking for weapons of mass destruction. These documents, widely ignored by the mainstream media, tend to back up the reasons for taking out Saddam's regime in the first place. Some of these documents are being translated by a blogger who goes by alias jveritas.

Prior to the document release by the U.S. government, two documents were provided to Cybercast News Service in 2004. These documents showed efforts to acquire mustard gas and anthrax. These contracts were apparently issued in 1999 and 2000, after Operation Desert Fox.

The first such document is CMPC-2004-004404 (can be viewed via Google), which concerns aluminum tubing. The media focused on the Iraq Study Group's claim that the tubing was used for an 81-millimeter rocket. However, this document points out that the purchase of 50,000 tubes was a matter of concern to Saddam Hussein and the Deputy Prime Minister. This is an unusual level of interest for conventional rockets.

The next document in this regard is CMPC-2004-000167, which discusses a simulation reactor. What is critical about this document is that it shows what Saddam was doing when the inspectors were away. It also shows that when they returned, the regime ceased work - and tried to hide what it was up to.

A third document, ISGZ-2004-007589, discusses concealment efforts for various programs. This undated document shows that Saddam's regime had no intention of complying with the UN resolutions. It also shows that the intelligence that was acquired could have been off - because of ongoing deception operations by Saddam's regime.

Finally, there is document CMPC-2003-016083, which discusses the development of nerve gas detectors. This was one of the things Saddam was prohibited from having - not to leave Iraq defenseless, but to deter Iraq from using chemical weapons in an offensive capability. Nerve gas detectors can tell whether or not a gas attack is blowing back on the troops who launched it, and by adding this level of uncertainty to any attack, it was thought Saddam would be less likely to develop and use chemical weapons.

One thing is clear from these documents: Saddam Hussein was clearly attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction. With the collapse of the UN sanctions and the corruption of the oil-for-food program, it was only a matter of time before Saddam acquired these weapons. - Harold C. Hutchison ([email protected])