"Unravelling Iraq's Biological Warfare Program: A Personal Account," Rod Barton

RSVP Required Open to the Public

Belfer Center Direcotors' Seminar "Unravelling Iraq's Biological Warfare Program: A Personal Account," Rod Barton, former Principal Inspector for UNSCOM and former Director of Proliferation Studies in the Australian Department of Defense.

Date: Thu, Jan 25, 2001 Time: 10:30am - 12:30pm

Rod Barton is an Australian microbiologist who from 1991 to 1999 was a principal inspector with the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq. He was a key player in the uncovering of Iraq's biological weapons program in 1995. This presentation will be a personal account of the investigation that resulted in Iraq's acknowledgement of a massive biological weapons program. It recalls the extensive efforts adopted by the Iraqi authorities to hide the program and the detective work conducted by UNSCOM inspectors in the gathering of evidence. The presentation also examines more recent information that indicates that Iraq's declaration of its biological weapons program is still incomplete and the need for further UN investigations to resolve the issue. Some of the material to be covered in the presentation has not previously been disclosed.