White House takes aim at U.N.'s nuclear chief - Some say El Baradei trying to help Kerry
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | November 2, 2004 | Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer
 
 

.......Some administration supporters accuse ElBaradei of orchestrating the scandal over 377 tons of missing explosives at the Al Qaqaa military base to help Kerry defeat Bush, and they suggest the case will deepen distrust between Washington and the United Nations.

"ElBaradei would like nothing better than to see President Bush lose ..., " said Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, a conservative-leaning Washington think tank.

........"The people I've talked to in the administration are absolutely convinced that ElBaradei is trying to defeat Bush, and what happened (last) week means they will do anything it takes to make sure that he doesn't get another term," said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.

ElBaradei, in an Oct. 1 letter to the U.N. Security Council, said that widespread looting of weapons in Iraq had occurred. Responding to ElBaradei's request for more information on the subject, Mohammed Abbas, an official of the Iraqi Ministry of Science and Technology, reported that explosives at Al Qaqaa were lost after the U.S. takeover because of "theft and looting of the governmental installations due to lack of security."

The issue caught fire on the campaign trail after the letter was leaked to the New York Times. Kerry accused Bush of "incompetence" for not keeping the caches of explosives under control, and administration defenders suggested that ElBaradei might have coaxed Abbas to complain to the IAEA.

"Did ElBaradei in some way persuade the Iraqi official that this letter was needed at this time because of the election?" asked May. "This fuels the suspicion that ElBaradei is attempting to manipulate an American election by spreading false information."

ElBaradei called the accusations "total junk." ...

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...