February 12, 2003: Panel Finds Iraqi Missiles Are Violation of UN Resolution

A UN panel—consisting of missile experts from the United States, Britain, France, Ukraine, Germany and China—unanimously concludes that Iraq’s Al Samoud 2 conventional missile program is in violation of UN resolutions because its range exceeds restrictions imposed in 1991 after the Gulf War. While admitting that the Al Samoud missiles exceed the 150 km limit in test runs—by a mere 33km—Iraqi officials insist that they would be incapable of traveling more than 150 km when laden with conventional explosives and guidance equipment. Iraq has more than 100 of these missiles [Washington Post, 2/13/2003; Guardian, 2/13/2003] Douglas Richardson, the editor of Jane’s Missiles and Rockets, says that the “violation” is comparable to driving 36mph in a 30mph zone. [Guardian, 2/13/2003; United Press International, 2/13/2003; BBC, 3/2/2003] Iraq is ordered to begin destroying the missiles by March 1 (see March 1, 2003), which it agrees to do on February 27 (see February 27, 2003). [BBC, 1/28/2003; Associated Press, 2/28/2003; New York Times, 3/1/2003]