WASHINGTON -- U.S. analysts estimate 4,000 surface-to-air missiles, once under the control of Saddam Hussein, remain unaccounted for and could threaten aircraft. However, a senior defense official said military intelligence analysts are having difficulty estimating how many missiles might have vanished and how many are still operational, reported the Washington Post Sunday.
Unaccounted for surface-to-air missiles outside government hands worldwide might total as many as 6,000, according to the analysts.
"We don't have a good estimate, some have put forward some figures, but there is none that the Defense Intelligence Agency has confidence in," said an official. "There is no evidence that they have left the country (Iraq)."
Concern over the missing missiles was raised during a conference on aviation threats last week at the DIA's Missile and Space Intelligence Center in Huntsville, Ala. The estimates, based on analyses conducted by the DIA and the CIA, were first reported Saturday by the New York Times.
