Chemical Weapons found in Iraq!

Fox News

[Bowana]

Chemical Weapons found in Iraq!

Fox News just announced that over 50 shells out of hundreds found have been tested and show positive for blister gas.

Brittish and Swedish scientists did the tests and another group of scientists is heading there now to do more tests.

The shells are believed to be ten years old, but they are not sure when these shells were placed in their current location!

Live report coming up.

[Bowana]

Nothing up on Fox News website yet, I just heard it on the Fox News Channel.

My heart is all a flutter!

[EggsAckley]

bttt

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[Tricorn]

Let the left's tap-dancing begin!!

[sgtbono2002]

These shells have been buried a long time , their discovery wont stop the liberal tongues from wagging. I am sure there are more to be found and maybe later that will solve the problem

[Bowana]

Here it is:

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Danish and Icelandic troops have uncovered a cache of 36 shells buried in the Iraqi desert, and preliminary tests showed they contained a liquid blister agent, the Danish military said Saturday.

The 120mm mortar shells are thought to be left over from the eight-year war between Iraq and neighboring Iran, which ended in 1988, said U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt.

The shells were found by Danish engineering troops and Icelandic de-miners near Al Quarnah, north of the city of Basra (search) where Denmark's 410 troops are based, the Danish Army Operational Command said in a written statement.

The shells were wrapped in plastic but had been damaged, and they appeared to have been buried for at least 10 years, the statement said.

It said British experts did a preliminary test and said the shells contained "blister gas (search)," but did not elaborate.

Before the war, the United States alleged Iraq still had stockpiles of mustard gas (search), a World War I-era blister agent that is stored in liquid form. The chemical burns skin, eyes and the lungs.

U.S. intelligence officials also claimed Iraq had sarin (search), cyclosarin and VX, which are extremely deadly nerve agents.

"We're doing some preliminary tests to ensure that if they do contain any kind of blister agent that we can dispose of them properly," Kimmitt said.

The Danish military emphasized that the tests were not definitive. In the weeks after the Iraq war, the U.S.-led coalition found several caches that tested positive for mustard gas but later turned out to contain missile fuel or other chemicals.

Initial tests by field troops are designed to favor a positive reading, erring on the side of caution to protect soldiers. More sophisticated tests are often necessary.

Other discoveries early in the U.S.-led occupation turned out to be old caches that had already been tagged by United Nations inspectors and were scheduled for destruction.

Saddam Hussein's regime used chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers during that war and killed an estimated 5,000 Kurdish civilians in a chemical attack on the northern city of Halabja in 1988.

After the first Gulf War in 1991, a U.N. resolution called for the destruction of all Iraqi nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as missiles with a range of more than 93 miles. The resolution set up a U.N. inspections commission to oversee the process.

The inspectors uncovered hidden nuclear and biological weapons programs in Iraq but found virtually nothing new after 1996. In 1998, Baghdad claimed it no longer had any banned weapons, accused the United States of spying and barred further inspections.

In 2002, President Bush accused Iraq of resurrecting its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. After Bush called on the United Nations to pressure Iraq, Saddam agreed to let the inspectors return.

The inspectors worked for nearly four months but found no evidence of any of the weapons the Bush administration had alleged. Since the war, a nine-month search by a succession of U.S. teams has failed to find any current stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The lack of evidence has led critics to suggest the Bush administration either mishandled or exaggerated its knowledge of Iraq's alleged arsenal.

In October, Dutch marines found several dozen artillery shells dating from the 1991 Gulf War in the southern Iraqi town of Samawah, but the shells contained no biological or chemical agents. Samawah is 100 miles west of the southern region where the Danes discovered shells Saturday.

In April, U.S. troops found a dozen 55-gallon drums in an open field near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji.

Preliminary tests performed at the scene indicated one drum might contain the nerve agent cyclosarin and a blister agent that could be mustard gas. Tests later showed the barrel's contents were not chemical weapons.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108009,00.html

[Bowana]

OK, it says Saturday, but it sounded like breaking news when Fox just reported it and I didn't find anything on the Fox website on the first try.

Has this already been on FR?

[July 4th]

Yup.

[Sidebar Moderator]

Possible WMD's Found In Iraq

[Bowana]

I searched but haven't seen anything here.

[EggsAckley]

It was posted a couple of times yesterday, but both posts said they were still testing the materials. Your's is the first I've seen that seems positive.

[RJCogburn]

Really doesn't sound that exciting to me. Old stuff left over from an old war.

[Bowana]

OOPs, Thanks.

I searched "Iraq, chemical, weapon" and didn't find that post.

Possible WMD's Found In Iraq
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1055308/posts

My apologies, I haven't been around FR for a while and must have blown my search attempt. There is a live report going on now on Fox.

[rhombus]

OK, it says Saturday, but it sounded like breaking news when Fox just reported it and I didn't find anything on the Fox website on the first try. Has this already been on FR?

Some of us have been following this for awhile -- Fox makes everything sound like "breaking news" and yes this will be dismissed by the liberal socialists who are all focussing on Harken's endorsement and O'Neil's "tell-all" book that is condemning Bush for formulating plans to get rid of Saddam prior to 9/11. Thanks for being prepared "W" - Clearly after the first Gulf War and Saddam's subsequent violations something had to be done -- too bad we had to sit around for 8 years amd watch Clinton fiddle.

[goldstategop]

The Daschle and Nikita Dean have issued a statement expressing how "deeply saddened" they are at this development...

[Bowana]

"Really doesn't sound that exciting to me. Old stuff left over from an old war."

Weapons of Mass Destruction are Weapons of Mass Destruction no matter how old they are!

If these are WMD's, then there is the proof, I Hope!

[SandRat]

Funny, we've been discussing the Danish find here on FR for at almost a week and it just now starts to break into "mainstream news outlets."

[RabidBartender]

"U.S. intelligence officials also claimed Iraq had sarin, cyclosarin and VX, which are extremely deadly nerve agents."

Expect this to be the Dim's focal points next week.

"Mr. Bush...(not Mr. President)Where is the sarin, cyclosarin, and VX? You led us to war under false pretenses. Waaahhhhhh!!!...I want my Saddam!

[Sacajaweau]

Discount the age of the artillery itself. The age of the artillery and the burial of the artillery may not be the same. The chemical is still potent. What a great hiding place for the chemical.....in "OLD" shells.

It's like the early find of the item "under the rosebush". Old???..... So what!! The plan is to dig it up on command!!

Why bury new shells?? They are allowed and can be visible. Bury "old" shells filled with the chemical. Roll up new shells and transfer the chemical load".

We came so swiftly from the south (and misled them with an invasion from Turkey)that they couldn't reach them. Just think of all the artillery the Iraqi army lobbed at Kuwait trying to keep us down south.

[WV Mountain Mama]

I'm sure W knew about this for quite sometime, but he waited to release it until we needed to deflect something negative from him. Or at least that is what the dims will be claiming today and tomorrow.