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Now, there's a funny little story about this particular camp. According to an investigative report by NBC News, the chemical plant could easily have been bombed by the U.S., on at least three separate occasions, if only the White House had wanted to. The region of Iraq where the Ansar camp was located was not controlled by Saddam, and the Air Force flew over it regularly.

In January 2003, London police broke up a ricin lab apparently connected to the plant. According to NBC:

The Pentagon drew up still another attack plan, and for the third time, the National Security Council killed it. Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.
And indeed, the camp (which could have been totally obliterated without an invasion) would be a key part of the U.S. case for war.

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Ansar al-Islam