The Financial Times reports that John Shaw, a deputy under-secretary of defense, suggested that “Russian units” had transported the explosives out of the country:
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Shaw said: “For nearly nine months my office has been aware of an elaborate scheme set up by Saddam Hussein to finance and disguise his weapons purchases through his international suppliers, principally the Russians and French. That network included. . . employing various Russian units on the eve of hostilities to orchestrate the collection of munitions and assure their transport out of Iraq via Syria.”
The Russian embassy in Washington rejected the claims as “nonsense”, saying there were no Russian military in the country at the time.
Mr Shaw, who heads the Pentagon’s international armament and technology trade directorate, has not provided evidence for his claims and the Pentagon distanced itself from his remarks.
“I am unaware of any particular information on that point,” said Larry Di Rita, Pentagon spokesman.
Interesting, but without any corroborating evidence it will join all those conspiracy theories.
Thanks to Rob, a reader of my "Commander Says Unlikely Large-Scale Removal of Explosives Occurred After U.S. Invasion" cross-posted at The Command Post for the tip.
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