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From : dawgnpony
Added: Jun 22, 2009
Chris Matthews cites Joe Klein on the source of the chemical thiodiglycol supplied to Iraq during the Iraq / Iran war while Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) praises Congress for passing a resolution. Hardball (aired: 06/19/09). What Matthews briefly touched on is that during the Iran / Iraq war (1980 - 1988), more than 500 tons of thiodiglycol was purchased from Alcolac, a Maryland based company, by Frans van Anraat, a Dutch national, who through a 'storefront' operation in New Jersey arranged for 35 shipments of the chemical to Iraq. What Matthews didn't mention was at the same time van Anraat was supplying Iraq with chemicals, Czech born Peter Walaschek, a German national, shipped 210 tons of thiodiglycol to Iran using the same manufacturer and the same 'front' operation in New Jersey. U.S. Customs shut down the operation and issued arrest warrants for Walaschek and van Anraat following the March 16, 1988 gassing and death of 5000 Kurds at Halabja, Iraq, which was blamed on Saddam Hussein. Alcolac was never charged for the sales claiming they had properly sold the chemical to a U.S. company and had no knowledge of what it was going to be used for. Thiodiglycol is a Chemical Weapons Convention schedule 2 chemical used in the production of sulfur-based blister agents such as mustard gas. It is primarily used in processing of leather and manufacturing ball point pens however, the 500 tons shipped by van Anraat would be enough to kill every man, woman and child on the planet. Walaschek was arrested in the U.S., pleaded guilty and at first agreed to cooperate with prosecutors by wearing a hidden microphone as an informant for the Customs Service. But on December 1, 1988, he fled a Washington halfway house and flew to Germany, forfeiting a $350,000 bail bond. A spokesman for the German embassy said Mr. Walaschek could not be charged under German law because the transactions had taken place outside the country. He also said Mr. Walaschek could not be forced to return to the United States for trial because German law does not provide for extradition. Frans van Anraat remained on the loose and had been living for 13 years under the name Faris Mansour Rasheed al Bazzaz until the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. at which time he fled to Amsterdam where he was arrested on December 7, 2004. On Jan 28, 2005, an appeal judge in the Hague ordered the release of van Anraat. However, due to pressure by the Kurds he was rearrested in 2005 and tried at the Hague. In 2007, van Anraat was found guilty and is currently serving a 17 year sentence for complicity to multiple war crimes. Given that George W. Bush on numerous occasions used the reasoning, "He [Saddam Hussein] killed his own people" to sell the American public on a preemptive war against Iraq and the ousting of Saddam Hussein, I find that the lack of press coverage that this story has received in the U.S, including the ties between Walaschek and van Anraat, to be negligent on the part of journalists and the media.
Category : News

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