Another document from the archives of the IIS gives a brief history of the Iraqi short-range missile program. This takes up a small part of document ISGP-2003-00040084, but it does have a fairly revealing description and timeline:

Missile Units and their history in general

This is a brief general history of Iraqi missiles and missile unit formation with timeline development over the time.

1. 1st Unit of ground to ground missiles was established August 1, 1974 with missile called Al-Ra’ad and received later Scud missile. The units at the time were stationed at Al-Hamawil and Al-Taji Area in their early development.
2. The first significant Iraqi missile commander in 1988 was General Hazim Abdulrazak Shihab but Iran-Iraq war was the 1st time Iraq used missile against enemy target since then Iraq has used to Israel an Allied forces.
3. The year 1991 was the first Iraq formed ground to ground missile general command that lead many brigadiers, training and test facility until the establish of republican guard.
4. As per letter 932 in February 2001, Ministry of Defense and Chief of Staff adjustment was made to restructure the ground to ground missile forces. [S]erious small missile units: command, company and platoons, and branches
were formed to reflect the task required. The functions of these units were engineering, chemicals, intelligence, labs and security.
5. in August 22, 2002 general secretary of the Army forces nominates St. General Tha’er Abdulrahman Yassin Abdulrahman Al-Tikriti with consent of the president Saddam to lead the complete the restructuring of the missile forces. In fact chemical classification command, chemical company, finance and transport unit, health, environmental risk assessment unit and many admin security oriented procedures were made.

Note that the reclassifications that called specifically for chemical units and labs in conjunction with the surface-to-surface missile units came in 2001 and 2002. The nomenclature we have read in other documents did not even exist before 2001 -- and yet we are supposed to believe that the Saddam regime had no chemical or biological weapons?

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Tracked on July 17, 2006 8:59 PM