WARNING: US will plant evidence of Weapons of Mass Desctruction in Iraq

US to field 1,000-member WMD force in Iraq
AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - One thousand US experts will scour Iraq (news - web sites) for weapons of mass destruction, a US defense official said amid questions about the US failure to find banned weapons and mounting calls for the return of UN inspectors.

"Digging it out, ferreting it out is going to take some time," said the official, who asked not to be identified. "It's going to be difficult, it's not going to be a cakewalk."

The United States and Britain used accusations of a hidden weapons of mass destruction program as the primary justification for invading Iraq. But so far no chemical, biological or nuclear weapons have been officially reported.

Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, has suggested sending back UN inspectors. Blix told the BBC on Thursday they would give the world a "credible report on the absence or the eradication of the program of weapons of mass destruction."

The White House, however, has said it was not yet time to discuss the return of UN inspectors, and the large-scale US effort signalled that the United States wants to conduct its own search.