Responses to questions from Sen. John Rockefeller, IV to

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Responses to questions from Sen. John Rockefeller, IV to Honorable

Filename:015pgv.94p

3-17-94



Subject: Responses to questions from Sen. John Rockefeller, IV to 
Honorable

William Perry SECDEF, March 9 1994.



14.          Several raw intelligence reports were received during
the Gulf War regarding possible use of biological warfare agents 
by
the Iraqi regime. The reports and our assessment are as follows:

A.         One report stated that the Iraqis had developed a pill
that could be put into the drinks of U.S. personnel which would
cause death in about 15 days. The agent was not named. Comment:
Intelligence personnel in the KTO were contacted and asked to
inform commanders of a possible problem. We were told that all
water consumed was bottled and because of the high state of
vigilance, there was little chance of its being contaminated. No
illnesses from drinking water among coalition troops was reported

[ (b)(2) ].

B.          There was a rumor reported by the Kuwaiti resistance
that 6,000 camels were injected with biological agents and sent
across the Iraqi border into Saudi Arabia. We assessed this report
to be only one of many rumors circulating during the war. 
Intelligence sources were instructed to look for dead animals in
the desert and to report any instance of camels moving across the
border or animal illness. All reported instances of dead animals
were investigated by medical and intelligence personnel in the 
area
and found to be natural occurrences.

C.         A Cairo newspaper article alleged that 50 guards from
a bacteriological weapons production facility not far from Baghdad
died of an unknown and rapidly progressing disease. Reportedly an
Egyptian physician who worked in a Baghdad hospital stated that
guards from the plant were brought to the hospital immediately
after the air raid. He also stated that the incidence of disease
in Basrah, Mosul and Tikrit was assuming a massive character and
that there was an epidemic. 

Comment: Upon receiving this report,
we sent out additional special requirements for information
regarding any unexplained disease in Iraq. In addition, we tried
to recontact the Egyptian physician and to find any other sources
who could confirm his story. No confirmatory reports were 
obtained. Since we had good reporting from reliable intelligence
sources and CNN coverage in Baghdad at the time, we believe that
any epidemic would have been reported. However, reports of disease
in Baghdad during this time period were consistent with those
normally seen in wartime. Since Desert Storm, the intelligence

community has had a large number of [      (b)(1) sec 1.3(a)(4)   
 ] reliable, military
and civilian sources who were able to provide detailed information
about the Iraqi BW program. Not one of these sources reported
epidemics or disease processes which were attributed to BW agents.