Suspect trailers probably used to fill balloons

To the editor:

It 's been two weeks since reports of an official British investigation into the "trailers of mass destruction" concluding that they are not bioweapons laboratories. I'm amazed anyone still believes the mobile labs story hook, line and sinker.

A simple look at the trailers shows they are no good for growing bad germs. The loose canvas sides do not provide the controlled environment needed. In fact, fans are mounted to blow waste heat inside so the trailers must be run with sides and top removed leaving equipment exposed to the elements. Experts can't even find an easy way germ-laden liquids could be removed from the so-called fermenters. Both trailers are free of any trace of bioweapons agents.

Instead, the British reportedly found that the trailers are hydrogen gas generators used for filling weather balloons and likely support an artillery meteorological system sold to Iraq in 1987 by Britain's Marconi Command & Control.

The trailers look like junk to me. I'm surprised they could be used for anything.

Maybe there's evidence of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction left in Iraq, but I doubt it. He didn't use them when his back was against the wall. With their forgeries and wild exaggerations about WMDs, the Bush administration has lost all credibility on this issue. It is time for an open congressional investigation into the fraudulent scare stories about WMDs used to stampede us into this costly, unnecessary invasion.

MARCUS R. BOND

Cape Girardeau