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Aggieland 2003
WORI
Friday, January 17, 2003
THE BATTALIC
Iraq inspectors find chemical warhead
Empty warheads a possible U.N. breach Public unsure about war
By Hamza Hendawi
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
An inspection team searching
bunkers in southern Iraq on
Thursday found 11 empty chemi
cal warheads that Iraqi officials
had not declared to the United
Nations, a U.N. spokesman said.
Iraq insisted that it had reported
the rockets, which it said were old
and never used for chemical
weapons.
A 12th warhead was also
found that needed further evalua
tion, and samples were taken for
chemical testing, said Hiro Ueki,
the inspectors’ spokesman in
Baghdad.
It was not clear if the discov
ery constituted a “material
breach” of the U.N. resolution
requiring Iraq to itemize its
weapons of mass destruction and
their components. White House
spokesman Scott McClellan said
the Bush administration was
“aware of the reports and we look
forward to receiving information
from the inspectors.” McClellan
would not comment on the signif
icance of the find.
U.S. officials said the discov
ery may not amount to a “smok
ing gun” unless some sort of
chemical agent is also detected.
Key questions about the find are
whether any chemical weapons
were ever loaded into the ord
nance, and, if so, when, officials
said. Serial numbers on the rock
ets should tell inspectors where
and when they were made.
The United States, which has
begun a heavy military buildup in
the Persian Gulf, has threatened
war on Iraq if it is found to be
hiding banned weapons pro
grams. The Iraqi government
says it no longer has any chemi
cal, biological or nuclear
weapons and submitted a 12,000-
page declaration to the United
Nations last month that it said
proved its case.
The 122 mm warheads were
found in bunkers built in the
late 1990s at the Ukhaider
Ammunition Storage Area, 75
miles south of Baghdad, Ueki
said in a statement. The team
examined one of the warheads
with X-ray equipment and took
away samples for chemical
testing, the statement added.
Ueki said the shells were
not accounted for in Iraq’s dec
laration.
But Lt. Gen. Hossam
Mohammed Amin, the chief Iraqi
Inspectors find
empty warheads
U.N. inspectors found 11 empty
undeclared chemical warheads
in "excellent” condition on
Thursday.
TURKEY
. No-fly zone
0 100 mi
0 100 km
SYRIA
IRAQ
IRAN
Ukhaider
Ammunition
Storage Area
Karbala
Warheads
found
No-fly
zone
SAUDI ARABIA
KUWAIT
SOURCES: Associated Press: ESRI
liaison officer to the inspection
teams, said they were short-range
shells imported in 1988 and men
tioned in Iraq’s report.
Amin said the inspectors
found the munitions in a sealed
box that had never been
opened.
“When these boxes were
opened, they found 122 mm
rockets with empty warheads.
No chemical or biological war
heads. Just empty rockets
which are expired and imported
in 1988,” Amin told reporters.
By Will Lester
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
POLL
The Iraq question
President Bush has yet to
convince Americans that war
with Iraq is justified, according to
a poll that suggests the White
House has much work to do to
win public support for military
force.
“I think a little more diploma
cy would be in order,” said Creig
Crippen, an 84-year-old retired
Air Force veteran from Deland,
Fla.
There is widespread support
for removing Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein, but that support
is conditional on proof of a threat
from Iraq and on the support of
allies, said the poll by the Pew
Research Center for the People &
the Press. The poll was released
Thursday as the United Nations
said it had discovered empty
chemical warheads south of
Baghdad.
Two-thirds or more in the Pew
poll say they favor military action
against Iraq — but only under
certain circumstances.
For example, the Pew poll
suggested that support for war is
strong, 76 percent, if United
Nations inspectors find nuclear,
biological or chemical weapons.
The support is evenly split if they
find no weapons but determine
Iraq has the ability to make these
weapons.
The public does not buy the
administration's argument that
Iraq must prove it does not have
these weapons. Almost two-
thirds, 63 percent, said that would
not be a sufficient reason for a
war.
More than half, 53 percent,
say the president has not yet
explained clearly what’s at stake
to justify the United States using
military force to end Saddam’s
rule, according to the poll. Some
42 percent say he has.
At the White House,
spokesman Scott McClellan said
Bush continues to work with
other countries on a peaceful
solution.
“But if Saddam Hussein will
not disarm peacefully and it
becomes necessary to disarm him
A recent poll suggests that
Americans conditionally favc
military action in Iraq.
I Yes
| No I I Not si
Ta
1. Would you favor or oppose
military action in Iraq to end
Hussein s rule?
2. Would you favor or oppose
action in Iraq to end Hussein's
even if it meant that U.S. forces
might suffer thousands of casuafe
I-Oppose
3. Would it be a reason to take
military action If...
... the inspectors find that Ira;
hiding nuclear, biological or
chemical weapons?
7%
...the inspectors do not find a
weapons program, but the lr»j
government cannot prove the) *
not have such a program
8%
Note: Poll of 1.218 adults taken Jar
12 has an error margin of plus or mi
3 percentage points
SOURCE Pew Research Center foi
the People & the Press
by force, then what we would;
doing is not only disarmint
real and growing threat,
liberating Iraqi people fron
brutal, oppressive regime
McClellan said.
The Pew poll of 1,218
was taken Jan. 8-12 and hav
error margin of plus or mimt
percentage points.
Though the president hash increase dis]
making his case against In sumer spent
since last September, Wli« you can begi
House officials say the heave® 2003 F-250
lifting doesn’t begin until Jan. j| Bush's pi
when Bush delivers his State j
the Union address. That’s oiw;
after LJ.N. weapons inspe®
issue their preliminary repott.
economy an
them. His pi
debt placed
double taxat
ing unemplc
dealt with el
tinue to gro\
Accordin
ing drives
Because of t
lege of pay
the federal
ernment, wt
less dispi
income to
The presi
plan make
future tax
reductions ]
in 2001 efl
this year, rc
tive to Janu
After the p
passed, he
order the Tr
Department
adjust incon
withhold:
immediately
The drumbeat for war coat bed couples
ues Jan. 31, when Bush meets
Camp David with his staunch:
anti-Iraq ally, British Pm
Minister Tony Blair.
more Amerh
bracket to t
increases tfu
House estim
will pump
IK
Price Index shows
inflation in econonn
By Jeannine Aversa
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Consumer prices
Consumer prices barely
budged in December and closed
out a year in which costs other
than energy rose by the smallest
amount since 1964.
The generally tame inflation
climate in 2002 offered some
shoppers — especially those
buying cars, clothes, computers
and airline tickets — some good
deals because prices fell for
those items.
But people paying energy,
medical and education expens
es, including tuition and books,
took a hit in the wallet as those
prices rose sharply.
Energy prices, which can
fluctuate wildly from year to
year, rose by 10.7 percent in
2002, a turnaround from the 13
percent drop registered in 2001.
Still, Thursday’s report on
the Consumer Price Index, the
government’s most closely
watched inflation gauge, merely
confirmed what Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan was
saying all last year: inflation
isn’t a problem for the ecojiomy.
Many companies have limited
power to raise prices given the
uneven economic recovery,
economists said.
Consumer prices rose a mere
0.1 percent in December from
the previous month, marking the
second month in a row that
prices went up by that amount,
the Labor Department reported.
December’s showing marked a
better reading on inflation than
the 0.2 percent rise economists
were forecasting. But on Wall
Street, cautious investors pulled
stocks lower. The Dow Jones
industrial average lost 25.31
points to close at 8,697.87.
For all of 2002, consumer
prices rose by 2.4 percent, up
from the 1.6 percent increase in
Here is a look at percent
changes from the preceding
month in the Consumer Pri«
Index.
Seasonally adjusted
0.5%-
families by
passed in 2C
riage-penalt;
financial bo<
sconomy du
with familie
ome summ
On the c<
sanies pay t
f the com]
some of tho:
— dividend
o.o
J F M A M J J A S 0N|
2002
SOURCE : Bureau of Labor Statistics
2001.
But most of that pickup
from rising energy costs, in
ing gasoline, which mo'l
higher on tensions in the
East and worries about
disruptions if the United SB]
went to war with Iraq.
Excluding energy pri (
consumer prices went up by
1.8 percent in’2002. That
the smallest increase since a
percent rise in 1964, anddf
from a 2.8 percent increase
2001.
“If you have the means
the attitude to spend, you
have to hunt too long to fir
good bargain,” said Q
Tannenbaum, chief economic
LaSalle Bank. “Discounting'
heavy and financing incent
are common.”
While that’s good for
sumers, companies cutting
prices may see their profit
gins squeezed fui?
Tannenbaum added.
With inflation under c<#;
the Fed likely will hold intfl
rates at a 41-year low of
percent at its next meeting
28-29, economists said.
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