The Bush administration has quietly withdrawn from Iraq a 400-member military team whose job was to scour the country for military equipment, according to senior government officials.At his press conference, Powell was quoted as saying in reference to Iraqi WMDs, "This game is still unfolding." I think he was misunderstood and actually said "still, uh, folding."
The step was described by some military officials as a sign that the administration might have lowered its sights and no longer expected to uncover the caches of chemical and biological weapons that the White House cited as a principal reason for going to war last March.
A separate military team that specializes in disposing of chemical and biological weapons remains part of the 1,400-member Iraq Survey Group, which has been searching Iraq for more that seven months at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. But that team is "still waiting for something to dispose of," said a survey group member.
Friday, January 09, 2004
Footnote to the preceding
From the New York Times, January 8.
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