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[1] Hamza, in his own words [2] Woolsey claims financial wall between self, INC



Title: [1] Hamza, in his own words [2] Woolsey claims financial wall between self, INC

[1] The following statement from Khidhir Hamza downplays his own importance within the Iraqi nuclear program (see earlier discussion at <http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2001/msg01098.html>).  Note the following from the 'Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' was intended for technical peers, not political patrons or the popular media.

"Over the years, I had many roles. I was chief of the fuel division in the 1970s, head of the theoretical division of the enrichment program in the 1980s, scientific adviser to the chairman of the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) in the mid-1980s, and--for a brief period in 1987--director of weaponization."*

Reading between the lines, Hamza's career apparently peaked in 1987.  Presumably, any claim to heading Iraq's nuclear program derives tenuously from this briefly-held title. 

Hamza is dragged onstage with increasing frequency by the on-to-Baghdad crowd.  Glosses such as the Washington Times' (whose Dec-22 editorial claimed "Khidir Hamza ... ran Iraq's nuclear weapons program for almost 20 years") and Fox News (whose crawl beneath a recent interview called Hamza "former director of Iraq's Nuclear Weapons Program") deserve correction.

[2] My post of Dec. 20 regarding James Woolsey should be clarified <http://www.casi.org.uk/discuss/2001/msg01144.html>.  An interview appearing within the week in the Washington Post (Dec. 26) includes the following claim by Woolsey:

<begin snip>
Shea & Gardner represents one of the main Iraqi resistance groups, the Iraqi National Congress. Woolsey says he was asked to personally represent the group, but declined because "I didn't want people saying that I was [promoting anti-Hussein views] for pay." So the firm has established a wall between Woolsey and the INC work, with none of his partnership revenue drawn from the Iraqi client.

<end snip>

In other words, it remains correct to note the conflict in Woolsey's law firm representing the INC.  However, it can't be claimed that Woolsey has any direct financial incentive for doing so.


Regards,
Drew Hamre
Golden Valley, MN USA

===
* See <http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/1998/so98/so98hamza.html>
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
September/October 1998
Vol. 54, No. 5

Inside Saddam's secret nuclear program
A senior Iraqi scientist tells how Saddam Hussein, in a decades-long quest for the bomb, systematically hoodwinked the IAEA.

By Khidhir Hamza


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