European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes thursday november 8,1990 columns William Safi reit May be later than we think in Gulf crisis in August of 1989, a terrifying explosion ripped apart the a1 Qaq a munitions Plant in Iraq. Sound Waves carried the fact of the non nuclear disaster for hundreds of Miles but news of what had happened remained Saddam Hussein s most closely guarded secret. Farzad Bazot a journalist for a British publication disguised himself As a medical technician and went to take a look. He was caught and despite pleas from civilized capitals Bush s White House in its appeasement Mode remained mute the too inquisitive reporter was hanged. That sent a message to obsequious . Senators and diplomats that Saddam sure knew How to Deal with the press. But his Defiance of civilized norms sent a More significant message to the worlds intelligence agencies the iraqi dictator would go to any length to protect the secret of a1 Qaq a. There is reason to believe the secret is this at Al Qaq a pronounced with two choking sounds material was being produced called hmm which stands for a High melting Point  this was what was accidentally set off. Dozens of iraqi and foreign scientists and munitions technicians paid with their lives to determine this fact control of detonation required electronic switches and Low Inductance High voltage capacitors that Iraq did not yet have. After frantic repairs to the damaged munitions Plant Iraq was Able to recommence production of hmm along with another exotic explosive called Rex which stands for a rapid detonation  but it still lacked the sophisticated triggers calibrated to millionths of a second. In March of this year american and British agents seized some of these triggers being smuggled to Iraq via London s Heathrow Airport. It is not known for certain if other shipments of capacitors evaded detection but that possibility cannot be dismissed. What the seizure at customs did confirm was that the technology being sought at Al Qaq a was closely related to the detonation of hmm and Rex. Why is that information so important because it tells the world the purpose of the explosive material and the state of the Art in Iraq. The purpose of High melting Point and rapid detonation explosives is to implode on uranium-235. If timed correctly that then sets off a nuclear explosion. &eis&4af< it is Safe to assume More accurately it is unsafe not to assume that the iraqis already have both the explosive and the triggers to. Set off u-235. Your next question do they have the <2 1990 a yellow cake to make gaseous uranium hex fluoride that can be fed into centrifuges to separate out the u-235? beats me. But Ever since writing in this space a couple of months ago that 26 centrifuges were to be the first targets of air strike on Iraq i have been asked by a variety of scientists spooks and snoops How i knew that iraqi nuclear scientist decided on the difficult implosion device route to admission to the atomic club those queries led to the additional information above. With a Quarter million  and Allied troops massed within striking distance of Saddam Hussein it seems urgent to task our intelligence resources with this Mission How soon will Iraq be Able to detonate a a a dirty nuclear device to decimate our forces with his Tammuz 1 missile coming along nicely with its Range of 1,200 Miles How soon will Saddam have unstoppable nuclear delivery potential throughout the Middle East and through Mauritania whose leaders he owns to Paris and London that is the Clear and present danger the world faces and that is the information to determine the timing of the strike to prevent nuclear equalization. Our old Book generals who want to wait until next year until we outnumber iraqis on the ground Are allowing Saddam the time to develop weaponry to inflict horrendous casualties. How comfortably our editorialists say a let the sanctions work for a year or two As if the scientists at Al Qaq a were not feverishly racing to Complete their work. How complacent some diplomats Are that Hussein can be induced to give up the weapon that would give him effective control of the world. We Are not confronting this aggressor to save the Oil flow or to protect allies or to reassert our leadership or even primarily to establish the Noble principle of collective Security that would have averted world War ii. We Are dealing Here with our own survival. As soon As Iraq gets the bomb and the missile millions of american lives Are in peril. Those Are the stakes. And for All we now it May be two minutes to Midnight c new York times the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government Jim . Intelligence needs massive overhaul for two compelling reasons Congress ought to launch a Bare knuckle top to Bottom review of the . Intelligence establishment 1. We re wasting billions in laughably overstaffed and overlapping bureaucracies. 2. Both Public debate and executive accountability Are barred when an administration can hide key policies and actions under secrecy wraps. That show officials up to and including presidents get away with criminal violations of constitutional democracy As in Iran Contra. Congress recently voted about $29 billion the exact amount is secret of course to finance intelligence in 1991. This could prudently be halved. No one argues that our need for spying and analysis ended with the cold War. The persian Gulf is exhibit a. But most of the Effort has been directed rightfully toward a threat that now is drastically narrowed the soviet Union. As a result the giant spooks National Security Agency Cia and National reconnaissance office tout terrorism drug enforcement and Industrial espionage As new tasks for themselves. There a a role for them in the first two though not in the third but to suggest an Effort comparable to the superpower Competition is pure Boondoggle. Its the bureaucrats Nightmare of accomplishing his Mission and having nothing left to do. Much of today a Spoo Kery is wasted and wasteful overlap anyway. Army Navy and air Force have bloated intelligence shops each religiously dedicated to discovering enemy threats that demand new and costlier weapons systems for its parochial Parent. The defense intelligence Agency created a generation ago to in Ltd this non sense Hasni to made a Dent. Guarded by their hostages on the congressional committees the service agencies flourished while the Dia became another largely useless layer in the bureaucracy. It la be hard to Blunt the Pentagon s Bias for Platinum plated new weaponry As Long As these sales forces Are allowed to function freely a and secretly. The whole ungainly shebang cries out for massive overhaul and streamlining. As for giving our Peerless leaders carte Blanche to flout the Constitution there have been Many examples. Iran Contra is the latest. Attorney general Dick Thornburgh recently foreclosed the last Hope that anyone from the Cia would be punished for this crime when he refused to allow classified matter to be used in the trial of Joseph Fernandez the Costa Rica station chief who helped Ollie North get the Booty to the rebels. Special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh was bitter a there is no question that the overprotective attitude toward classified information forced the dismissal of this Case. No matter How the administration rationalizes the non production of this information it shows a Lack of concern for applying the Rule of Law to officials of the intelligence  he did no to add a but might have a especially when that includes our last two presidents. No ones saying there Arentt legitimate secrets a but they re Only a fraction of the Mountain that a protected. As a reservist i used to see a lot of classified. Most of it was valueless to an enemy. While shaking Down our inflated spook Dom we ought to go through its files and declassify a Good 95 percent of what a buried there. Cox news Santee