Iraq may target children in revenge attacks
 
Saddam Hussein may use a deadly virus to target infants and young children in Israel and elsewhere in revenge for the deaths of over one million children claimed to have died in Iraq as a result of eleven years of US inspired international sanctions. As long ago as 1990 it was known that Iraq had developed a variant of Rotavirus that kills many children in third world countries and may have been used already as a weapon on Kurdish targets.
 
Now, a potentially deadly new strain simply known as Agent R is available to Saddam's Special Chemical Corps established in 1996 to rebuild Iraq's CBW capability and to acquire or develop new strains and the technology to use them as effective weapons. Rotavirus, particularly in its newly developed and highly virulent form causes acute gastro-enteritis, diarrhoea, dehydration and death in infants. An attack on Turkey, Israel or any of the United States new Arab allies, such as Egypt or Jordan could cause horrendous casualties amongst young children.
 
Iraq rebuilds it special weapons capability
 
Rotavirus is but one of a wide number of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons under development in Iraq and these programs are mirrored in Iran and to some extent in both Syria and Libya. Iraqi nuclear facilities, though regularly targeted by US warplanes have continued to develop weapons of mass destruction. By the mid-1990's Iraqi scientists had made some progress in the development of a relatively crude nuclear device with a core of highly enriched uranium, this also involved the use of a shaped conventional charge to activate a nuclear explosion by uniformly compressing a uranium sphere. Iraq has access to a stock of at least 100 tons of HMX(High Melting Explosive), the most effective conventional explosive used to trigger nuclear explosions
 
Although the first working model was destroyed in a US air attack, an improved version is now believed to be fully functional. It is intended to fit this high radiation or 'dirty bomb' into the nose cone of the latest variant of the Badr ballistic missile capable of reaching all of Israel and much of Turkey and the rest of the Middle East.         Iraq's capability has been boosted by an influx of Chinese and North Korean missile and weapon technology, engineers and scientists. As the levels of co-operation grow with Tehran it is expected that elements of Iraq's most vulnerable research will be temporarily moved to Iran and further co-operation can be also expected in missile and nuclear development, particularly as both countries use similar technology.
 
Israel is likely to press the United States to take early action against Iraq and probably Iran or to allow the IDF a free hand to take out research facilities developing systems likely to prove a threat to Israel's survival. The bleak prospect is, that in the absence of any real chance of effective negotiated peace settlement's anywhere in the Middle East, that sooner or later weapons of mass destruction will be used with incalculable results for this highly volatile region and for both the US and Europe.
 
Richard M. Bennett
 
AFI provides comprehensive coverage of nuclear, chemical, biological and missile developments throughout the Middle East and in particular the capabilities of Saddam Hussein's Special Chemical Corps, the Special Border Guards, the Jerusalem Corps and the Fedayeen Saddam or Martyrs Brigade, potentially the most dangerous 'suicide' force yet developed in the Middle East and believed to be in close contact with Al Qa'ida in Iran.
 

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