U.S. Can't Locate Missiles Once Held in Iraq Arsenal
By RAYMOND BONNER
Published: October 8, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 7 — The United States military has been unable to locate
a large number of shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles that were part of the
arsenal of Saddam Hussein, officials say, compounding the security risks for
airports and airlines in Iraq and around the world.
The lack of accounting for the missiles — officials say there could be
hundreds — is the primary reason the occupation authorities have not yet
reopened the Baghdad International Airport to commercial traffic, officials
said. The terminal has been rebuilt and the runways repaired, and Australian
soldiers are running the air traffic control system.
But portable missiles were fired at incoming planes several times in recent
weeks, one senior official said. Most of those incidents have not been
reported to the public. The missiles missed their targets widely, suggesting
that the people who fired them had not been extensively trained.
United States military officers do not know exactly how many of the missiles
are unaccounted for, because they do not have precise estimates of how many
Iraq once possessed.
"We just don't know," said an allied official, turning up his palms for
emphasis.
The American military is pressing the search for the missiles, offering a
reward of $500 for each one. The Pentagon has been surprised how many of the
weapons, mostly Russian-designed SA-7's, Iraqis have turned in, another
coalition official said.
Virtually every day, Iraqis are walking up to United States military posts
to hand over portable missiles, and sometimes they have led Americans to
small caches.
All together, 317 shoulder-fired missiles have been handed over to the
military since May 1, according to unclassified United States military
figures. The military has paid more than $100,000 in rewards, the figures
show.
United States troops have also found several hundred shoulder-fired
missiles, many in weapons dumps the locations of which remain secret,
another allied official said.
But occupation officials remain concerned, because there is a vibrant
international black market for the missiles in which an SA-7 can fetch as
much as $5,000 — far more than the United States military is offering.
The missiles are easy to smuggle, with a weight of 30 pounds or less and a
length less than six feet, and Iraq's borders are highly porous at the
moment.
In general, the operator of a shoulder-fired missile aims it at a low-flying
plane or helicopter, then pulls a trigger, launching the projectile, which
locks in on the heat emitted by the aircraft's engine. The United States and
other advanced militaries have developed effective defenses like flares;
their heat deceives the missile.
United States officials have discovered that Mr. Hussein's overall
conventional military arsenal was much larger than American prewar
estimates. The C.I.A. has estimated that the weapons dumps found so far in
Iraq hold 600,000 tons of all kinds of ammunition and weapons.
The missiles believed to be available on the world black market include
highly sophisticated American-made Stingers, nearly one thousand of which
were given by the C.I.A. to the Islamic guerrillas who fought the Soviet
occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980's.
In December 2000, two Stingers were found on a North Korean ship smuggling
drugs into Japan, according to American officials. The ship was sunk by the
Japanese coast guard in a shootout. United States Navy divers secretly took
the Stingers off the ship. It was raised, the drugs were displayed and the
boat was put in a museum — all without public mention of the Stingers.
American officials said they had not been able to determine where the
missiles were being sent.
Afghan-era Stingers are widely believed to be inoperable because of their
age. But military experts say that while the Stinger's official military
shelf life is seven years, with good maintenance and care they can be fired
long after that.
In Bangkok, police and security officials said an intense search began last
week for at least six shoulder-fired missiles after the police received
information that the weapons had been smuggled into Thailand from Cambodia.
Later this month 20 world leaders, including President Bush, are to fly into
Bangkok for an economic summit conference.
In recent weeks at least two airlines have scrambled the times of their
flights in and out of Bangkok's international airport after receiving
intelligence reports from the United States that Al Qaeda operatives were
planning missile attacks, diplomats and security officials there said.
Moderating security fears is the fact that the portable missiles cannot be
fired effectively without training. American soldiers go through a
seven-week course to qualify to use the missiles and then are required to
requalify quarterly.
The SA-7 was developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1960's, and there are
Chinese versions as well. It is the most widely available shoulder-fired
missile.
Experts estimate that there are about 100,000 shoulder-fired antiaircraft
missiles in existence globally. In the last 15 years, more than 50,000 have
been sold to governments of developing countries, according to Clive
Williams, director of terrorism studies at the Australian National
University in Canberra.
At least 30 insurgent and terrorist groups possess this kind of missile,
Jane's Terrorism Intelligence Center reported in August.
www.nytimes.com
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