US soldier dies in Iraq as logic for war receives severe blow with Blix saying Saddam likely demolished WMD

Published September 17th, 2003 - 02:00 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

A US soldier from the 101st Airborne Division, based in the northern region of Mosul, has died of gunshot wounds, the military said Wednesday. 

 

"On September 15, a soldier from the 101st Airborne Division died of non-hostile gunshot wounds," spokeswoman Nicole Thompson said. 

 

She could not provide details on where the incident occurred nor give any further information on the circumstances of the American soldier's death. 

 

In the meantime, four US soldiers were injured in two separate attacks on occupation forces in Iraq, a US military spokesman also said Wednesday. 

 

He said three soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division were injured when their convoy was attacked at al-Dorah on the southern outskirts of Baghdad at 9:45 pm (local time) Tuesday. 

 

A fourth soldier from the 4th Infantry Division was wounded when his convoy came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades at 3:15 pm (local time) on Tuesday at Balad, north of the capital. 

 

Meanwhile, former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said in an interview aired on Wednesday that Iraq had probably got rid of its weapons of mass destruction a decade ago, but ousted leader Saddam Hussein pretended otherwise to deter any attack. 

 

"I'm certainly more and more to the conclusion that Iraq has, as they maintained, destroyed all almost of what they had in the summer of 1991," Blix told Australian national radio. 

 

Asked if it was likely Iraq has not had Weapons of Mass Destruction for at least 10 years, he said, "Yup, that's right." 

 

Blix's remarks, which he said were already known in the United States, called into question controversial intelligence used by the UK and the United States to justify the US-led war against Baghdad. 

 

"You see, if they didn't have anything (WMD) after '91, there must be some explanation why they behaved as they did. They certainly gave the impression that they were denying access and so forth," Blix said. 

 

"I mean, you can put up a sign on your door, Beware of the Dog, without having a dog." 

 

"In the beginning they talked about weapons concretely, and later on they talked about weapons programs...maybe they'll find some documents of interest," Blix added. (Albawaba.com)

© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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