US President George W. Bush claimed two mobile labs that the CIA says were designed for biological weapons production were evidence Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. But he quickly backed away from that, and arms-control experts are quietly expressing skepticism about whether the trailers were even related to biological research.
At least two senior weapons analysts familiar with the laboratory finds have said their work shows the laboratories could have had nonmilitary uses as well. The analysts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to discuss further specifics while the research is ongoing.
The Bush administration cut off the IAEA from the weapons hunt after its assessments of Iraq's nuclear programs hurt Washington's efforts to win international backing for the war. Relations further soured amid early war reports that US troops had failed to secure Tuwaitha and other nuclear facilities in Iraq from looters.
After weeks of pleading by the IAEA and the arms-control community, the Pentagon finally relented and agreed to let a small IAEA team in under strict guidelines that permit the United Nations to visit Tuwaitha on a one-time-only trip that must be wrapped up by June 25.
Iraqi scientists who surveyed the looted plant before the US troops began protecting it said villagers left behind piles of powdered uranium inside a building known as "Location C." The scientists cemented over the spilled materials to prevent leakage or further exposure to residents.
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