Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(May 2003)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
Weapons of mass destruction.
 President
Bush’s reasons, or excuses, for going to war with
Iraq were to remove the despotic regime of Saddam Hussein
and destroy his weapons of mass destruction. The American
armed forces have searched diligently to uncover Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction and to date have not published
the finding of any such weapons.
Claims by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a speech
to the United Nations some months ago, stated that possession
of weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqis had been
confirmed by intelligence sources. This has not been proven
and the credibility of Secretary of State, the American
Intelligence community, and the United States Administration,
is at stake.
Can one say that the 28,000 or so bombs dropped by coalition
aircraft and the rockets, launched from the large armada
of Coalition ships of war riding at anchor in the Persian
Gulf, apparently including JDAMs and cluster bombs (*see
below ) could be classified as weapons of mass
destruction - if so, are we morally guilty of possession
and use of such weapons?
Whilst on the subject of weapons of mass destruction,
it has been suggested that the following countries having
weapons such as chemical, biological and nuclear, are
the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom, Russia
and China. Other countries with nuclear capabilities,
include India, Pakistan, North Korea, with Iran rapidly
making progress towards developing a nuclear capability.
Have I missed anyone out?
(*) Cluster Bombs.
Cluster Bombs, (a.k.a. dumb bombs), are a particularly
deadly and vicious weapon of mass destruction. Three different
types of Cluster Bombs which have been reported to have
been used by the Coalition forces in Iraq, can be divided
into three sub-groups, bombs, dispensers, (which contain
sub-munitions such as small bombs, grenades, or mines),
and the sub-munitions themselves.
Some dispensers stay attached to the aircraft, and discharge
their payload out of the rear or bottom of the dispenser.
 A
large dispenser generally has a mechanically timed or
proximity fuse which allows the payload in the body of
the bomb to be dispersed at a predetermined height causing
a wide scatter footprint. Sometimes these munitions fail
to detonate on impact, by reason of design, perhaps intent,
or malfunction, and may remain active for many years later
causing many civilian casualties.
As I said previously, cluster bombs are a particularly
deadly and vicious weapon.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents
of these newsletters. Please send all correspondence to
bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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