Multiple Tests Confirming Iraq WMD Send Media Into Deep Spin

NewsMax ^ | 1/4/04 | Limbacher

[Paul Ross]

Syria's hidden stashes of Iraqi WMD's.

[Enterprise]

"I for one am proud we've got a leader who does the right thing regardless of his faithless detractors."

I would have referred to them as his fatherless detractors.

[4Liberty]

I'm still wondering where Iraq put 8,500 liters of Anthrax.

U.N. had verified Saddam originally had 8500 liters - but for 11 yrs. its eventual destination was never explained to the UN or world.

Guess the Media traitors don't mind, if it eventually shows up in the United States...
:(

[cookcounty]

" If these chem shells are from the attacks on the Kurds"

It's unexpended ordnance....it hasn't been used on the Kurds or anyone else, plus it was found a long way from Kurdistan.

[GunnyB]

Well, it's less lethal than high explosives or bullets.

That depends. While a well aimed bullet or HE may inflict significant damage or death to a bad guy, mustard gas, or blister agent in the current parlance is potentially MUCH more lethal than either. The largest factor is the prevailing weather during the deployment of the gas. Deploying and agent such as this on a dry, calm day on a target that is suitably grouped (e.g. a command element, massed troops, or an encampment can be much more deadly than the equivalent number of HE rounds.

As a former 0341 (USMC Mortar MOS), a 120mm mortar is a large round. The contents of this type of round are dispersed in a fairly compact area, but mortars are typically employed as a group of tubes firing multiple rounds - one after another. Although more difficult to do with 120mm mortars due to their size and weight, a reasonably proficient mortarman could have four or five rounds in the air before the first hit.

So, if the Iraqis deployed a typical mortar platoon of 8 guns, they could have had approximately 40 rounds hit the target in a very short time. And that, my friend is a GREAT deal of blister agent.

As a Marine, I attended several NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical) Defense and decontamination classes. As part of the training we got to see video of some Australian prisoners who took part in a test of blister agent and its effects on the human body (one would assume that they got some sort of commutation in return, but I am not certain of that fact). One test that was performed was to take a straight pin, dip it into the liquid blister agent and then apply it to the skin of the prisoner. The "contents" of that small pin was enough to cause the persons entire forearm to turn into a huge blister. Imagine inhaling this stuff - death is caused by the person actually drowning in their own fluids.

Look, anyway you slice it these are not "trivial" weapons by any stretch of the imagination. Deployed in ideal circumstances, round for round, they can seriously impact much larger groups of people than either HE or smal arms fire.

[kennedy]

Anything short of a working nuclear bomb and the media will say it is nothing.

Of course, if we were to actually find a working nuclear bomb, the media would say that the U.S. planted it there.

[bray]

Unless McAwful has it in his talking points, PravdABDNC is not allowed to report it. These goose stepping propagandists wouldn't know how to report a story w/o their Rat bias if it was written for them. They must hate the internet and Fox for reporting the truth! A real reporter would realize that this is propably the tip of the iceburg.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[cookcounty]

"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."

How does one determine length of shell burial? What are the criteria used to distinguish between1,3,7 or 10 years?

To have some reporter say "they appeared to be" buried for 10 years is a pretty weak statement. especially given the bias of the press.

[xzins]

First things first.

These might not be what you considered to be the WMDs that brought us into Iraq.

A wise man said once "Everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but we are not entitled to our own facts."

1. Tests will determine if these are WMDs.
2. They have been found in Iraq.
3. The conclusion: We have found WMDs in Iraq.

As a retired soldier let me tell you that there is no way I want to have blister agent dumped on my position. It would kill me and my unit. If it is a "persistent" blister agent, then that would mean that the chemical would remain in the area and lethal for days. Contact with it is deadly.

Many things are now "buried" in Iraq. The issue is are they functional. These were wrapped in plastic, so it appears the intent was not to destroy them.

Incidentally, many things were buried in Iraq....including Saddam in a spider hole and a MIG that was dug out of the desert. That's the method they used.

[alnick]

Mulitple tests conducted in Iraq by Danish and British experts indicate that Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction have finally been discovered,

Leave it to Newsmax to imply that ALL of the WMD have finally been found.

I think this is a significant discovery, but Newsmax is sooo over the top.

[cookcounty]

I'm trying to recall, but I think you will find that chem shells as a % of the whole in WWI was NOT huge. It is true that winds and weather made accurate gas placement a highly inexact science.

[Sacajaweau]

What we don't know is....Did we find them accidently, with the help of a snitch or do we have some paperwork, too??

[TexasCowboy]

I wasn't attempting to be facetious with that question.

I've worked in the MidEast, although not in Iraq.
WMDs could be buried for a long time in the desert and still be serviceable.
I still think there are thousands of WMDs we have not found and probably will never find.

[alnick]

RATS will have to say we found some but not enough to count, problem for the RATS is that Iraq is a really big place and there will likely be more.

Exactly. There's not a chance that this 36 - 200 shells containing blistering agent were the only chem/bio weapons hidden in the entire country of Iraq, and we just happened upon them. This is the tip of the iceberg, and likely no matter how much we eventually find, we will never find all of them.

[Sacajaweau]

Found AFTER the capture of Saddam!! More to come!!!

[cookcounty]

Shells were found by accident.

sundayherald.com says:

"Icelandic bomb specialists working with the Danish soldiers said the rounds had been found buried in a road construction, 45 miles south of Amara, north of Basra, and that a mobile US chemical research laboratory has been sent to help." Shells were NOT found by any WMD search team, but by a road construction crew! And did you know there were Icelandic troops in the "unilateral" Iraq operation?

[Nebr FAL owner]

Were did you get the idea that the shell that were found were "pretty much empty"? I have been reading the various accounts & no mention of them being near empty is made. I also have seen photos of the shells while not in factory fresh condition simple cleaning while wearing chemical resistant gloves & a gas mask with filter would be all that it takes to make them usable .

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

How do you evaluate the leftist/media perspective?

[Nebr FAL owner]

The U.S. has thousands of arty shells, rockets,& bombs loaded with various chemical agents dating back to the Korean war sitting in bunkers at places like the Anniston Army Depot just outside Anniston Alabama, or the Tueollo depot in Utah which has a standing order of no digging allowed on post as you dont know what piece of unexploded ordinance going back to WW1 you might find. These shells in the storage areas are still dangerous in spite of the fact that they are several decades old. The shell found in Iraq might not be pretty but they are still quite capable of killing .