-->Der Uno-Waffeninspektor Peter Franck über die Suche nach Massenvernichtungswaffen im Irak.

SPIEGEL: Die amerikanische Regierung hat, allen Ankündigungen zum Trotz, bis heute keine Massenvernichtungswaffen im Irak gefunden. Wundert Sie das?
Franck: Nein, überhaupt nicht. Warum sollten sie erfolgreicher sein als wir? Die Uno-Spezialisten gehörten zu den Besten, die die Welt zu bieten hat - und wir haben auch nichts gefunden.

SPIEGEL: Es gibt also keine Massenvernichtungswaffen im Irak?

Franck: Da halte ich es mit Chefinspektor Hans Blix: Das kann man erst dann sagen, wenn man absolut alles geprüft hat. Meine persönliche Einschätzung ist mittlerweile allerdings, dass es den Amerikanern weder um die Massenvernichtungswaffen noch um das irakische Volk gegangen ist.

SPIEGEL: War Ihnen nicht bewusst gewesen, dass es die Amerikaner unabhängig von Ihren Ergebnissen auf einen Krieg anlegten?

Franck: Nein, wir haben unseren Job unheimlich ernst genommen. Wir haben geglaubt, dass es immer noch eine kleine Chance gäbe, den Krieg zu verhindern. Im Nachhinein muss man natürlich sagen, dass das ein Irrtum war.

SPIEGEL: Haben Sie denn verfolgt, wie sich die Debatte im Sicherheitsrat und in den Medien zuspitzte?

Franck: Nur teilweise. Fürs Fernsehen fehlte es in unserem Bagdader Hauptquartier anfangs an Antennenverstärkern, aber wir haben zumindest Internet-Zugang gehabt. Die Sitzungen des Sicherheitsrats haben wir uns natürlich live angeschaut...

SPIEGEL:... auch die vom 5. Februar, in der Colin Powell vermeintliche Beweise für"rauchende Colts" präsentierte?

Franck: Einige von uns hatten sich ein Wochenende freigenommen und die Sitzung auf Zypern im Pub Green Door verfolgt. Als es hieß, Powell wolle 90 Minuten reden, dachte ich: Okay, jetzt kommen die Amis mit all dem Zeug, das sie uns immer vorenthalten haben. Jetzt präsentieren sie den großen Knall. Aber beim Zuschauen war schnell klar, dass es alles ein großer Bluff war, dass sie nichts hatten.

SPIEGEL: Wieso?

Franck: Beispielsweise lagen zwischen den Aufnahmen der Satellitenbilder, mit denen Colin Powell beweisen wollte, dass die Iraker an einem Ort unmittelbar vor unserem Eintreffen geheime Dinge zur Seite geschafft hätten, in Wahrheit mehrere Wochen. Was Powell sagte, hat schlichtweg nicht gestimmt.

SPIEGEL: Haben Sie die angeblichen Beweise persönlich überprüfen können?

Franck: In einem Fall, unsere Inspektion war längst vorbei, hat Powell theatralisch auf einen unserer Einsätze verwiesen, bei dem es um die Inspektion eines Bunkers gegangen war. Powell legte ein Satellitenbild vor, auf dem ein Fahrzeug vor einem Munitionsbunker mit aufmontiertem Wassertank zu sehen war. Den Wagen hat Powell als Dekontaminationsfahrzeug dargestellt, mit dem irakische Soldaten nach Unfällen mit Chemie- oder Biowaffen hätten dekontaminiert werden können.

SPIEGEL: Und was haben Sie wirklich vor Ort gesehen?

Franck: Wir hatten kurz vorher festgestellt, dass es sich bei den Fahrzeugen um ganz normale rote Löschfahrzeuge der Feuerwehr handelte. Auf dem Satellitenbild konnte man bloß nicht sehen, dass das Ding rot angemalt war. Das war Künstlerpech. Da setzte sich bei uns die Überzeugung durch, dass das meiste, was die Amerikaner über den Irak wussten, von Satellitenaufnahmen stammte. Die haben schlichtweg am Schreibtisch gesessen und Satellitenbilder interpretiert.

SPIEGEL: Trifft das auch auf andere Behauptungen zu?

Franck: Im Prinzip schon. Man kann das, was die Amerikaner behauptet haben, im Nachhinein auch als Machbarkeitsstudie bezeichnen: Es hätte stimmen können.

SPIEGEL: Glauben Sie, dass die Amerikaner bewusst manipuliert haben?

Franck: Wenn man mehr Geld für Rüstung haben will, werden die Waffenzahlen des Feindes eben etwas überinterpretiert. Wir haben beispielsweise einen Luftwaffenstützpunkt inspiziert. Bei dem hatten die Amerikaner die Zahl der Jagdflugzeuge fünfmal zu hoch eingeschätzt. Die amerikanischen Zahlen waren meistens falsch, immer zu hoch.

SPIEGEL: Wie fühlt man sich als Inspektor, wenn die Welt so offensichtlich über den Kriegsgrund getäuscht wird?

Franck: Blix hat intern sehr, sehr deutliche Worte gefunden, die ich an dieser Stelle nicht wiederholen möchte.

SPIEGEL: Ihr norwegischer Kollege Jörn Siljeholm hat die Beweise als"Müll" bezeichnet.

Franck: Weil ich ein höflicher Mensch bin, sage ich: Das war im Grunde alles nur eine Show für das US-Publikum.

SPIEGEL: Haben die Amerikaner Ihnen intern bessere Materialien gegeben?

Franck: Ich habe jedenfalls keine besseren gesehen. Die amerikanischen Akten waren zwar als hochgeheim eingestuft, sie wurden uns persönlich aus New York überbracht, und wir durften sie in der Regel nur unter Aufsicht durchgehen. Dabei waren das im Wesentlichen dürftige Dossiers mit Bewertungen von Satellitenaufnahmen, auf denen bestimmte Bereiche markiert waren. Zum Teil waren die Bilder mehrere Monate oder sogar Jahre alt. Ich habe nie einen Hinweis darauf gesehen, dass tatsächlich ein Agent vor Ort gewesen ist. Man kann in Bilder viel hineininterpretieren, wenn man nicht da gewesen ist. Seitdem erscheint es mir so, dass die Geheimdienste auch nur mit Wasser kochen - wenn überhaupt.

SPIEGEL: Wie sind denn die Uno-Inspektoren bei ihrer Suche vorgegangen?

Franck: Einige haben Proben von Chemikalien oder biologischen Stoffen genommen. Unsere Gruppe hat Datenproben untersucht. Per Filter haben wir Zehntausende Dateien und Datenträger nach bestimmten englischen und arabischen Stichwörtern wie Anthrax durchsucht, inklusive sämtlicher nur vorstellbaren Niedlichkeitsformen und Abwandlungen.

SPIEGEL: Und dabei was gefunden?

Franck: Wenig. Auf jedem zweiten Rechner hatten die Iraker schlicht Microsoft Office, AutoCad und FoxPro laufen, also klassische Büro-, Konstruktions- und Datenbankprogramme. Die haben im Wesentlichen ganz normale Verwaltungsarbeit mit ihren Computern gemacht.

SPIEGEL: Es gab nichts, was Sie stutzig gemacht hat?

Franck: Wir haben uns natürlich Gedanken gemacht, warum an bestimmten Stellen nichts zu finden war. Manche Rechner waren beispielsweise in Ministerien, Chemiefabriken oder Raffinerien geradezu jungfräulich, mit neu eingerichteten Festplatten. Andere Computer waren offenbar gerade erst ausgetauscht worden. Es gab auch Hinweise darauf, dass die Iraker bei der Verschlüsselung von Daten auf dem aktuellen Stand waren. Aber das waren alles keine Beweise, höchstens Indizien dafür, dass hier was versteckt worden sein könnte.

SPIEGEL: Wussten denn die Iraker, wann Sie wo suchen wollten?

Franck: Aus Sicherheitsgründen haben wir den Kreis der Mitwisser möglichst klein gehalten. Oft haben wir noch am Morgen das Ziel geändert. Wenn wir mit dem Hubschrauber unterwegs waren, mussten wir, um nicht von der irakischen Flugabwehr oder amerikanischen Flugzeugen in den Flugverbotszonen abgeschossen zu werden, frühzeitig mitteilen, welche Routen wir fliegen wollten. Unsere Piloten haben deshalb bis zur letzten Minute taktiert und jeweils eine ganze Reihe von Planquadraten als Ziele angegeben."Box-Planing" wird das genannt. Erst während des Flugs haben wir dann mitgeteilt, welches Ziel wir wirklich ansteuern würden. Trotzdem war den Irakern ab einem bestimmten Punkt klar, wohin wir wollten.

SPIEGEL: Wie sind Sie Waffeninspektor geworden?

Franck: Das traf mich gänzlich unerwartet. Die Uno hatte ihre Mitgliedstaaten um Spezialisten gebeten. Ich bin im Auswärtigen Amt wohl nicht ganz unbekannt...

SPIEGEL:... weil Sie gleichzeitig auch Vorsitzender des Chaos Computer Clubs sind.

Franck: Der Chaos Computer Club hat mittlerweile einen hervorragenden Ruf. Wir werden immer wieder als Experten hinzugezogen. Das war vielleicht einer der Gründe, mich bei der Uno vorzuschlagen. Dann bin ich nach Wien zur Internationalen Atomenergiebehörde zum Vorstellungsgespräch geflogen. Keine sechs Wochen später, Anfang Dezember, war ich in Bagdad.

SPIEGEL: Würden Sie die Arbeit noch einmal machen?

Franck: Es war schon ein hammerharter Job. Wenn man die Aufgabe ernst genommen hat, war man nach drei Monaten absolut ausgebrannt. Wir haben sogar Weihnachten und Neujahr inspiziert. Andererseits hat mir ein Kollege neulich eine E-Mail geschickt, die das Gefühl ganz gut auf den Punkt bringt: Wenn man eine Weile draußen ist, sehnt man sich irgendwann doch wieder nach dem Job.



Und um auf die angeblich so gute Presse zu kommen; Die hätten die Lügen der Amis im Vorfeld des Krieges viel mehr bringen müssen. ABER: Pustekuchen. Minimal wurde was durchgelassen. Was für ein erbärmliches Spiel. Wir HIER haben den Braten frühzeitig gerochen.
<ul> ~ http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,251961,00.html</ul>

-->Vorhin im Radio gehört: Keine 24h nach der Schlacht um den Flughafen in Bagdad sind 10 schwarze, gepanzerte Mercedes-Limousinen aus der Stadt auf dem Rollfeld direkt in große Transportflugzeuge gefahren, und wurden weggeflogen. Vermutlich hohe oder gar höchste irakische Regierungsmitglieder. Passt irgendwie gut zu deinem Titel.

-->Das war wohl Teil eines Coups, den man den Amerikanern so nicht zugetraut hat, hier noch mal der Link, der in diesem Board schon am 19. April rein gestellt wurde:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Deal
19.04.2003 [08:05]


LEBANON -- One day after the start of the war against Iraq American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared on American television screens to say something that the press interpreted as some sort of American propaganda. In reality, though, it was the basis for what was later to take place.
Rumsfeld said that there had been communications between the Americans and leaders in the Republican Guard in Iraq. He said that the details could not be disclosed now, but urged listeners to wait for coming days.
Three days later the American media played an audio tape on which recorded voices could be heard speaking in Arabic guiding American forces to important bombing targets. The voices were translated immediately in the headquarters of the American forces so that orders could be issued accordingly.
In fact, Rumsfeld was not just talking at random. There had been communications that took place in total secrecy between the leaders of the Republican Guard and the Commanders of Saddam's Fedayeen, unbeknownst to the Iraqi leader and his son who was in charge of a huge military organization that could have made life hell for the American forces had they joined the battle.
The communications grew in intensity after the Republican Guard entered its first battle against the American forces in the environs of Baghdad, and after much of its equipment was destroyed. The Americans could see that they were facing a force with high military preparedness, one that was well trained and could inflict tremendous losses on the American forces whenever they tried to enter Baghdad.
The offer proposed by the American command in Iraq to the Republican Guard and Saddam's Fedayeen was generous. The offers were run past Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, who okayed them immediately. The provided for:
1. In return for not opposing American forces and for laying down their weapons, the United States will give the following:
Transportation for the Republican Guards top echelon to secure locations outside of Iraq,
Transportation of the Republican Guards leaders of the second echelon to"liberated" places of which the Anglo-American forces had control inside Iraq,
Granting to the top echelon of the Republican Guards large sums of money, with lesser sums going to the second echelon,
Granting some of the leaders of the top echelon of the Republican Guard, and to those who had not committed"war crimes" official roles in"liberated" Iraq after the end of the war,
Granting American citizenship and residency in the United States to some of the first echelon commanders and their families, depending on their wishes,
Establishing a balance between the Iraqi Opposition that will have a limited role in the administration of Iraq on the one hand, and Republican Guard commanders who did not fight the American forces, on the other.
2. As a guarantee of this (which the commanders of the Republican Guard did not completely trust), the United States disclosed some of its agents whom it had planted among the"human shields" who were guiding the American military to positions to be bombed and where President Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi leadership could be found. A brief meeting was held between one of the agents serving as a"human shield" and some members of the Republican Guard during which the latter were handed official written documents addressed to the first echelon of the Republican Guard. These reassured the Republican Guard commanders that the assurances were reliable. The documents provided for:
After the occupation of Saddam International Airport, Republican Guards of the top echelon should arrive at the airport so that they could be transported away. If that proved impossible, a place should be agreed upon where an Apache helicopter or two could land somewhere near Baghdad in order to transport them away.
Some commanders of the second echelon should secure themselves within the Iraqi Republican Palace adjacent to the Airport. American forces would fire some shells at it in order to announce that they had taken it, then American forces would transfer them to the airport.
Orders should be issued to the commanders of the Second Echelon of the Republican Guard not to resist and to lay down their weapons, together with promises of their safety, and that of their families, and they would be transported to secure locations. In turn they were to issue orders to those of lower rank in their commands not to put up resistance. The Republican Guard's first echelon used a deception to get lower ranks to accept such an order by telling them that the resistance would be carried on secretly in accordance with a plan prepared by the Iraqi leadership to protract the war and catch the American forces in a trap that had been laid for them. This trick was used on the lower ranking commanders of the Republican Guard.
First and Second echelon commanders of the Republican Guard would be given sums of money in dollars as a down payment to guarantee the implementation of the agreement.
Human Shields
From the beginning, the heads of the American Central Intelligence Agency followed a plan to use the work of agents posing as"human shields." The CIA chiefs used peace activists in America carefully and systematically. They sent three groups of peace activists to the region, and in particular into Baghdad on the basis that that would be the place where the decisive battle would be fought.
The deception worked with the Iraqi leaders who placed different groups of human shields in important places such as: factories and manufactories that had great importance for the population. Storehouses of weapons belonging to the Republican Guard were located inside those factories and manufactories, and this fact was openly acknowledged. But inside, hidden under ground, there were huge stockpiles of weapons sufficient for waging a resistance struggle for years. These were ostensibly civilian installations but on the inside were military. These included centers where rockets were gathered for destruction under the UN supervised program, while some of them were stored in underground military storehouses.
The Iraqi measures, whereby they distributed the human shields to vital locations, was in fact a trap set for the Iraqis, for the human shields carried difficult-to-detect delicate communication devices for communicating with the American forces during the bombing. It later became clear that these devices played an outstanding role in pinpointing the positions of Saddam and his leaders, as well as places where weapons were being stored.
Occupation of the Airport The occupation of Saddam International Airport was a turning point inasmuch as it enabled the American forces to carry out their entire plan as it had been detailed in the documents that they had been given and as they had been promised. The commanders of the Republican Guard were reassured, in particular those of the first echelon, that what the American forces had promised them was the truth. The Republican Guard commanders then provided complete information about the various military positions around the airport and inside of it. They also gave complete information about the tunnels that extended from the Republican Palace to inside the airport, tunnels that had been built especially so that the Iraqi president could use them should he ever be in danger. American forces occupied these tunnels, unknown to any but the first echelon of the Republican Guard.
On the second day after the occupation of the airport Muhammad Sa`id as-Sahhaf assured the world that Saddam International Airport was still in the hands of the Iraqi forces. He based his assurances on a promise of an"innovative and unusual" sort of response, as he put it, when Iraqi fighters and Republican Guards would sweep from the palace through the tunnels and on towards the airport in a surprise attack on the American forces occupying the airport. He did not know even as he spoke that American forces had discovered the location of those secure tunnels and that they would confront the small numbers of Iraqis who were sent there, under the leadership of third echelon commanders of the Republican Guard, and who would find the Americans waiting for them.
Time at that difficult juncture was golden. The American forces saw that the road had opened up to Baghdad, so they carried out two essential operations simultaneously:
The first operation: to introduce tanks to the approaches of Baghdad from where they would penetrate to the area of the Palestine Hotel, on condition that they would not cross the bridge to the opposite bank. This occurred after they were sure that orders had been issued to the Republican Guard to disappear in accordance with the"secret plan" to which the first echelon commanders had already alerted their junior officers.
The second operation: to prepare a military transport plane of at least 200 seats to transport the first echelon commanders of the Republican Guard and some members of the second echelon to secure locations.
The orders given to the American soldiers who advanced to secure a bridgehead for the rest of their forces were as follows:
First: attempt to silence the media that were transmitting pictures of the places where the breakthrough was occurring (this is what took place when the offices of al-Jazeera TV, and the Abu Dhabi TV station, were shelled) and to try to herd the journalists into a place from which they could not move, except by order of the coalition forces, or, to be precise, the US Marines. Second: To cut communications and electricity off from the area and to attempt to shell the little electricity generators in the area in order to completely knock out any means for transmission once and for all.
Third: To shell the satellite dishes on the roof of the Palestine Hotel. It was here where the al-Jazeera journalist Tariq Ayyoub was martyred.
Fourth: To deal with the limited resistance in the area of the bridge with small arms rather than with artillery bombardment because some of the second echelon the Republican Guard were too late to reach the appointed meeting places in time and might possibly have to reach the coalition forces by crossing the Sanak Bridge.
Military Aircraft Many first-echelon commanders of the Republican Guard gathered at Saddam International Airport. They had to wait eight more hours before the rest of the commanders showed up. The American command found to their surprise that the first echelon commanders of Republican Guard forces had brought along with them the top commander of Saddam's Fedayeen, a man who took his orders directly from Saddam Hussein's son. This convinced the American forces that they had put Saddam's Fedayeen out of action along with the Republican Guard. After that commander informed them that had been attracted by the agreement reached with the Republican Guard, and requested that he be accorded the same terms that had been granted to the Republican Guard, consent was granted immediately.
The American military aircraft took off from Saddam International airport at 8:00 p.m. on the third day of the occupation of the airport. Some sources in the American command maintain that the plane flew directly to the United States, via Germany. Others say that it took them by way of Kuwait. What is certain, however, is the fact that they left for the United States. At the same time two helicopters were whisking the second echelon commanders of the Republican Guard to Basra where they were met by British forces.
The Fate of Saddam Hussein
Some American political sources maintain that those secret communications between Republican Guard commanders and the Americans took place according to American instructions that were issued to the Republican Guard leaders so as to prevent their being detected. The most modern technology was used, including tiny transmitter-receiver devices that had been given to the Republican Guard Commanders in their first meeting with the Human Shields. This is the secret of how they kept Saddam Hussein in the dark about their contacts.
The final task of the Republican Guard Commanders gathered at the airport was to give the important information about the location of the Iraqi president and his leadership in what was to be their last meeting in al-Mansour. This information enabled the American forces to aim at the place where the meeting was being held and strike it with guided missiles. Most probably the Iraqi President and his leadership, including his two sons, were killed in the bombardment. None of the leadership was saved from that attack except Muhammad Sa`id as-Sahhaf, the Information Minister, whose whereabouts are still unknown. He alone among the members of the leadership was out of the area at the time of the attack, which came shortly after he delivered a press statement in front of the Palestine Hotel that day.
Saddam's Family
The American Authorities have kept quiet about the whereabouts of Saddam's family, in particular the women and children among them, although they know where they are, and whether they are living or dead. There are some reports that they are in Syria. Others have said that they slipped away to Tikrit. In fact, however, the American forces bombed the location where the family was staying and were able to catch the whole family together after they slipped away to the place where the President's half-brother Barzan at-Tikriti was staying. When his house near Baghdad was bombed the family was wiped out.
A Final Word: This information was leaked by American sources. Nevertheless, it should be more than 75 percent true because it originated with political and not military personnel.
One question remains: Where did those mountains of weapons go? Where did the forces who"melted away" into the angry Iraqi population go?
The Marines did discover vast storehouses of weapons that could have been used by the Republican Guard -- though they were in fact never used -- heavy weapons, light weapons in a huge store room in Baghdad. American forces are keeping that quiet -- which is a further indication of the proof of what we have said.
But one major question remains open. If they did not find the bodies of Saddam, his leaders and his two sons, the matter remains a source of embarrassment. Coming weeks will no doubt provide us much more information.


<ul> ~ The Deal</ul>

-->>But one major question remains open. If they did not find the bodies of Saddam, his leaders and his two sons, the matter remains a source of embarrassment. Coming weeks will no doubt provide us much more information.

Tja. Und der Typ im Radio sprach nicht von Militärs, republikanischen Garden, sondern von höchsten Regierungsmitgliedern.