500N wrote
Why the hell did they leave the chemicals there in bulk, full stop ?
It appears that it was down to the state of the munitons in the bunkers at the Muthanna complex. They were sealed in the already bombed bunkers in the 1990s.
12. A bunker at the storage area of the Muthanna State Establishment containing hundreds of artillery rockets filled with nerve agents was destroyed in part through coalition aerial bombardment in 1991. Because of the collapsed roof of the structure it was not possible to determine the exact extent of the destruction of munitions, nor their exact quantity (Iraq claimed that there were 2,500 munitions in the bunker). In order to prevent further contamination of the area with nerve agents from damaged rockets, Iraq, under the supervision of United Nations inspectors, sealed the structure with reinforced concrete and brick walls covered with earth. In 1994, Iraq
signed a protocol with the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) by
which it undertook to inspect the sealed bunker at least once a month to ensure that the seals were intact and the warning signs were not removed, damaged or defaced.
Iraq also agreed to seek the approval of the United Nations inspectors prior to
opening or entering the bunker as long as Security Council resolution 715 (1991) remained in force. There were also 16 other sealed structures and areas at the Muthanna State Establishment that contained potentially hazardous items and materials covered by the same protocol. UNMOVIC does not know whether these procedures have been followed up by the coalition forces after the withdrawal of UNMOVIC from Iraq in March 2003 or recently pursued by the Interim Government of Iraq.
http://www.un.org/depts/unmovic/new/..._munitions.pdf
The current Iraqi Government signed the Chemical Convention and made plans for the destruction of those chemical weapons at Muthanna.
In accordance with Article III of the Convention and Part IV(A) of the Verification Annex to the Convention (hereinafter “the Verification Annex”), Iraq declared that the Category 1 chemical weapons it possessed were remnants—a result of 1991 military operations; in addition, this State Party committed to submit the general plan for the destruction of those chemical weapons to the Secretariat as soon as possible.
Progress on the preparation of the destruction plan approach for Al Muthanna bunkers
6. Further to that, the Iraqi authorities are interested in informing the Council of the progress that has been made during the intersessional period (from February to 30 April 2012) at the national level towards the disposal of the remnants of chemical weapons at the Al Muthanna site, in particular those in bunkers 13 and 41, which have involved a number of measures and activities
https://www.opcw.org/index.php?eID=d...sh&docID=15487
At least one of the bunkers was assessed as being too hazardous and plans were made to encapsulate it in more concrete.
Due to Iraq's unique circumstances, a final destruction deadline has not been set for the country. In February 2012, Iraq submitted to the OPCW a national paper detailing its approach towards the destruction of the contents in the Al Muthanna bunkers. In May 2012, Iraq amended its submission, noting that the remnants in Bunker 13 were especially hazardous and that the lowest risk course of action would be to irreversibly encapsulate in concrete the bunker contents.
Defense Treaty Inspection Readiness Program | Treaty Information Center
After the invasion the Iraq Survey Group made assessments at Al Muthanna and found that looting and razing had taken place.
Exploitations of Al Muthanna
ISG conducted multiple exploitations of the Al Muthanna site to determine whether old chemical weapons, equipment, or toxic chemicals had been looted or tampered with since the last UN visit to the site. ISG is unable to unambiguously determine the complete fate of old munitions, materials, and chemicals produced and stored there.The matter is further complicated by the looting and razing done by the Iraqis.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/li...3_cw-anx-b.htm