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LT GEN WILLIAM S. WALLACE: U.S. Finds Iraq Arms Evidence

Wednesday, May 7, 2003
(1:09 PM)
By Pauline Jelinek
Associated Press Writer

Experts were still studying a truck suspected to be the first discovered biological-chemical mobile lab, said Wallace, who also was battle commander for the battle of Baghdad. The suspect truck was handed over to U.S. forces in northern Iraq and was being moved to Baghdad for further investigation, a senior official said later, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Marines watch on as Iraqi police officers line up before receiving their pay in Najaf, Iraq, Monday, May 5, 2003. Some 613 Iraqi men, most of them Najaf police officers under Saddam, are registered for training by U.S. Marines to form a new, American-watched police force, provided they pass the background check that examines just how close they were to Saddam's fallen regime.
Image Credit: Hasan Sarbakhshian -- AP

WASHINGTON -- AP
American forces have collected “plenty of documentary evidence” suggesting Saddam Hussein had an active program for weapons of mass destruction, the commander of U.S. Army troops in Iraq said Wednesday.

And officials were taking extra care in studying a truck suspected to be the first discovered biological-chemical mobile lab, especially in light of a number of instances when discoveries were announced that turned out not to materialize later.

Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, commander of the Army's Fifth Corps, told a press conference the reason Saddam didn't use unconventional weapons against invading forces may be that these weapons were buried too well to retrieve before the fast coalition dash to Baghdad.

“We've collected evidence, much of it documentary, that suggests there was an active program” for unconventional weapons, Wallace said.

“A lot of the information that we're getting is coming from lower-tier Iraqis who had some knowledge of the program but not full knowledge of the program,” he told Pentagon reporters in a videoconference from the Iraqi capital. “And it's just taking us a while to sort through all of that.”

He did not elaborate.
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2003 © The Associated Press.

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