Washingtonpost.com: Fog of War

Was It a Baby Milk Factory?

The destroyed baby milk factory

When CNN's Peter Arnett reported on the seventh day of Desert Storm that an infant formula plant in the Abu Ghraib suburb of Baghdad had been bombed, Washington was categorical in its dismissal. "It is not an infant formula factory," Gen. Colin Powell said, "... It was a biological weapons facility, of that we are sure. ..."

Intelligence analysts had identified the eight-year-old plant as one of 13 biological weapons sites. The four-acre compound had a pronounced military appearance, particularly buildings painted in camouflage colors, surrounded by fence and guard posts.

The Iraqi regime said the baby milk factory had been camouflaged since the war with Iran.

The Iraqis said the baby milk factory had been camouflaged since the eight year war with Iran in the 1980s.

War planners took no chances and bombed any facility that might be hiding germ agents.

U.N. inspectors and U.S. intelligence concluded that the Abu Ghraib bombing was in error after Saddam Hussein's son-in-law Hussein Kamel defected in 1995. Kamel said Iraqi biological-agent research was centered at Al Hakam, 60 miles southwest of Baghdad, and three other facilities, not including the baby milk factory.

Iraq rebuilt the factory by 1993 as a showcase for anti-U.S. propaganda. The Iraqis displayed milk cans and debris, painted murals and brought school children for field trips and pep rallies.

Back to the top