Return to Iraq

WHERE INSPECTORS WILL LOOK…

Teams from the U.N. and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be particularly interested in new construction at facilities known to have produced weapons of mass destruction in the past

FALLUJAH II At this chlorine and phenol plant, Iraq produced nerve agents like mustard gas. The plant was bombed during the Gulf War. Afterward, U.N. inspectors destroyed the remaining ingredients and equipment. Since then, the CIA says, the facility has upgraded equipment and expanded chlorine output

PRESIDENTIAL PALACES Many of these compounds were off limits during the past inspection cycle. This time U.N. teams will insist on closely examining the dozens of sprawling complexes and the vast underground networks that Saddam calls home

TAJI Site of Iraq’s long-range-missile program. It was nearly flattened by bombing. Inspectors then destroyed prohibited missiles and related equipment. Much of Taji has been rebuilt, and in March an Iraqi defector reported that mustard gas was being produced here

TUWAITHA Iraq’s nuclear-research program was based here until the IAEA removed all the facility’s nuclear fuel and destroyed equipment directly tied to the weapons program. But Iraq continues to have natural and low-enriched uranium and has added structures to the site

…AND SOME OF THE INSPECTORS’ GADGETS

SATELLITES Images from these high-flyers allow experts to detect, among other things, new construction and defensive fortification. The satellite images are produced by U.N. members and private companies

AIRCRAFT The U2 can pick up details the satellites can’t, while lower-flying helicopters and drones equipped with everything from gamma-ray detectors will zoom in on suspicious sites, taking air samples and radiation readings

ON-SITE VIDEO Cameras positioned to monitor “legitimate” facilities will send real-time images back to headquarters so inspectors can verify that a site has not been converted to one manufacturing weapons of mass destruction

AIR SAMPLING Air sucked through special filters will capture lots of desert dust and maybe small amounts of chemical, biological or radioactive material. U.N. teams will also use swipes and handheld detectors

INVENTORY Inspectors will have to resume the laborious task of counting and tagging all items that could possibly be used to create deadly material. But the bigger challenge will be finding those items

GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR This device is dragged across the ground to detect irregularities in the earth, such as hidden underground facilities and storage spaces in places like Saddam’s compounds

INTERVIEW Low tech but crucial, interviews with Iraqi officials, scientists and defectors may help U.N. investigators glean important information about the development of Saddam’s weapons programs

Sources: GlobalSecurity.org David Albright; ISIS; CIA; NASA; DigitalGlobe