75 / 128
weapons had been found, despite months of intensive searching.
However, the report said that the ISG had discovered dozens of
WMD-related activities and significant amounts of equipment con-
cealed from U.N. inspectors between 1991 and 1998, including a
secret network of laboratories suitable for WMD research and a vial
containing a potential biological warfare agent hidden in a scien-
tist’s home. There was no evidence that Iraq had tried to build
nuclear weapons after 1998, although there was evidence that
Saddam had tried to acquire the weapons.
Although the suspected weapons of mass destruction were not
found, plenty of evidence demonstrated the brutality of Saddam
Hussein’s regime. Research by the CPA and non-governmental
organizations turned up more than 250 mass graves throughout the
I
RAQ
’
S
P
LACE IN THE
W
ORLD
75
Iraqis search for their relatives and friends among the remains of victims found in a mass grave in
Musayib, about 47 miles (75 km) southwest of Baghdad. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, human-
rights officials estimated that more than 300,000 Iraqis had been murdered during the dictator’s reign.