A remotely piloted aircraft that the United States has warned could spread chemical weapons appears to be made of balsa wood and duct tape, with two small propellors attached to what look like the engines of a weed whacker.
[...]
In Washington's search for a "smoking gun" that would prove Iraq is not disarming, Powell has insisted the drone, which has a wingspan of 24.5 feet, could be fitted to dispense chemical and biological weapons. He has said it "should be of concern to everybody."
The drone's white fuselage was emblazoned Wednesday with the words "God is great" and the code "Quds-10." Its balsa wood wings were held together with duct tape. Officials said they referred to the remotely piloted vehicle as the RPV-30A.
Latif said the plane is controlled by the naked eye from the ground. Asked whether its range is above the 93-mile limit imposed by the United Nations, he said it couldn't be controlled from more than five miles.
Now this may all be Iraqi disinformation, but if the duct-taped drone is the same one discussed by Powell, it would be another nail in the coffin bearing Powell's credibility, and that of the US.
(Thanks to reader BM for the heads-up.)
Comments: Iraqi "drone" made of duct tape
Another indication that folks in the Administration have been sniffing too much model glue.
Posted byBraganat March 12, 2003 08:34 AM
Why wouldn't the Iraqis just go ahead and attack us with the small balsa wood gliders that are powered by rubber bands? They could strap a vial of some sort of chemical agent to the underside and let 'em go. Of course, if the wind shifted, the planes could crash on their helmets, thereby creating a friendly fire incident. Or, how about those rockets you pump up creating water pressure and then releasing the rocket. Maybe you could put a small warhead on one of those. In fact, just yesterday I saw someone of Middle Eastern origin in the toy isle at WalMart...
Posted byVA6thDemat March 12, 2003 08:39 AM
"Now this may all be Iraqi disinformation, but if the duct-taped drone is the same one discussed by Powell, it would be another nail in the coffin bearing Powell's credibility, and that of the US."
How many more nails do we need?
Posted byjdwat March 12, 2003 08:43 AM
VA6thDem:
Don't forget the possibility of the Iraqi attacking us with paper airplanes. Think about it, every scrap of paper in Iraq is potentially a missile that could carry anthrax spores. The Iraqis could construct large wind machines that would greatly increase their range. God, I'm going to have trouble sleeping knowing they must have millions of these things ready to launch.
Posted byJJBat March 12, 2003 08:46 AM
BM is a wealth of information! They posted a link the other day that lead me to this remarkable PNAC letter that was mentioned in the Prime Ministers question this morning.
As for the drone, I can't wait to hear what Blix has to say about it!
Posted bypixieat March 12, 2003 08:48 AM
I think we better have Blix start looking for inordinately large rubber bands in Iraq as they could launch WMD at the US.
Posted bynofundyat March 12, 2003 08:52 AM
For some reason it reminds me of the Radioactive Man movie episode of the Simpsons when, in order to get the scene to look realistic, they painted a horse to look like a cow.
Lisa asked, "Well what happens when you need a horse?"
The man answers, "We usually tape a bunch of cats together."
Posted byflanagan doeat March 12, 2003 08:56 AM
JJB... you're right! Now I'm worried. But what worries me more are the Estes rocket kits. Has Tom Ridge been monitoring the inventory of the kits? Gosh, with two or three propellant cartridges in one of those suckers, no telling how far they would go. And finding their mobile launchers would be real tough.
Posted byVA6thDemat March 12, 2003 08:57 AM
Look, people, this is serious.
We can't afford to have people wasting duct tape. It's the key ingredient in our WMD preparedness plan.
This entire crisis/war is being foisted upon us by the duct tape lobby.
It's all so clear now.
Posted byBriVTat March 12, 2003 09:10 AM
Pixie,
I can't wait to hear what Leno and Letterman have to say about it!
Posted byalfat March 12, 2003 09:12 AM
jdw has it right. "How many more nails do we need?" Powell proved long ago he is just another GOP scumbag.
Posted byTin Soldierat March 12, 2003 09:13 AM
Duct Tape, the Context Sensitive Multi-Use Wonder Weapon
* In the US, the Tape halts the course of Chem and Bio death clouds; in Iraq the same Tape sends Chem and Bio death clouds aloft.
* Do you suppose the Iraqis sourced their Context Sensitive Multi-Use Wonder Weapons from France? Ecuador, a major exporter of Balsa, has been strangely silent during these past few months of discussion regarding Iraq and WMDs...
* This also reminds one of the rice paper ballons the Japanese employed in WWII to float WMDs across the Pacific and into the heartland. Although rice paper is a favorite material of hobbyists (particularly kite builders), there's no indication of a hobbyist-Iraq partnership in this case (since rice paper, apparently, was not used in the drone's construction). The Japanese, however, might have some explaining to do; they may not have provided contemporary, real-world engineering assistance, but clearly the drone's Iraqi designers received inspiration from somewhere.
You can't make 
Another indication that folks in the Administration have been sniffing too much model glue.