Posted on 05/17/2004 3:01:20 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
The discovery of an Iraqi artillery shell armed with nerve gas has the liberal community and mass media in a panic.
The 155mm nerve gas shell was rigged to kill U.S. troops but it failed. U.S. Brig. General Mark Kimmitt confirmed the discovery during a news conference in Baghdad.
Yet, the discovery of nerve gas was followed by a second revelation. A second shell, equipped with mustard gas was found two weeks ago.
The mustard gas shell identified by the special WMD inspection team in Iraq appears to be one of 550 declared by Saddam to U.N. inspectors during the early 1990s. These shells disappeared later in 2002 when Hans Blix asked to see them.
The sudden discovery of nerve gas and mustard gas in Iraq can be added to two other recent events ignored by the mainstream media.
Saddam and Osama
The first took place during the 9/11 hearings when former Clinton Defense Secretary William Cohen testified that in 1998 Saddam's top nerve gas experts met with several members of al Qaeda in Baghdad. Clearly, such a meeting places the top terrorist with the leading Middle East dictator in the same basket. The dangerous combination of two madmen, mixed with weapons of mass destruction, seems to blow the "no threat here" argument out of the water.
However, that is not enough for the left.
The second event, a foiled gas attack in Jordan, piles more facts higher and deeper. The attack, led by Al Qaeda operatives, reportedly could have killed 20,000 people. The Jordanians were very clear about the foiled attack, the weapon involved was deadly gas and the terrorists, based in Iraq, entered by the Syrian border.
Jordanian diplomats have informed me that the investigation into the foiled gas attack is still under way and that at least two other members of the terrorist team are still on the run. Still, this is not enough proof for the anti-war fanatics.
Kill U.N. Teams
It is very clear from what we have found so far that Iraq did have chemical weapons and was trying to hide its arsenal. The discrepancies between documentation, box markings and actual items found clearly show that an intentional effort was made by Iraqi troops to mislead U.N. inspection teams. In some cases false shipping documents written in English were discovered with the weapons.
The effort to find chemical or biological weapons is being hampered by the vast quantity of conventional munitions stored under dangerous conditions. The Iraqi Army was well known for storing chemical weapons with its conventional explosives.
The Iraqi program to hide its weapons programs from U.N. inspectors was no small effort. Aviation Week and Space Technology noted in an article published in September 2002 that Iraq went to great lengths to conceal its arms technology.
According to Aviation Week, the Iraqis tried to destroy a German aircraft and its crew on a U.N. mission. The Iraqis were trying to prevent documents produced by the U.N. inspectors from leaving the country.
The U.N. documents covered details found on Iraq's nuclear weapons programs and a blueprint for aggressive, military-backed, inspections to root out the underground WMD programs. The documents also contained "rough" details of Iraqi command authorities, weapons production and delivery systems.
France and Russia
Iraq did most of its killing using Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi aircraft equipped with chemical sprayers. In addition, Saddam used French-made artillery and helicopters to dump gas on the Iranians and his own people.
The 155mm shell found outside of Baghdad airport was made for Iraq's arsenal of French made artillery. Clearly, the shell was designed to meet French military standards to fire and used advanced safety techniques to protect Iraqi gunners.
It was that safety technique, of separating the nerve gas into two inert chemicals, and placing them in two chambers inside the shell, that foiled the terrorist attack. The "binary" chemical weapons design has a metal or plastic diaphragm designed to keep the two inert chemicals apart until the massive force or shock of firing it down a cannon bursts the wall, allowing the chemicals to mix.
Ironically, the binary weapons design originated inside the former Soviet Union. Saddam Hussein rose to power backed by Russian weapons and Russian money. Saddam still owes Moscow over $8 billion for the arms he purchased from Russia.
The primary Iraqi chemical weapons are nerve gas and mustard gas, a blistering agent, standard equipment for the 1980s Soviet era military machine.
According to "Russian Military Power" published in 1982, "It is known that the Soviets maintain stocks of CW (chemical weapons) agents." The two primary Russian chemical weapons in the 1982 Soviet inventory were "nerve" gas and "blistering agents - developments of mustard gas used so effectively in World War I."
Iraq obtained Russian chemical delivery systems and the same inventory of Russian made chemical weapons at the same time. Iraqi SU-22 Fitter attack jets have been armed with Warsaw Pact designed bombs filled with chemical weapons.
Iraq used these Russian jet fighters to drop chemical weapons on Iranian troops during the Iran/Iraq war. Iraq tried to use these SU-22 jets during the 1991 Gulf war and was foiled by the allied air superiority.
The Next Attack
We are indeed fortunate that the two weapons discovered so far were not used correctly. However, it is clear, that much like cockroaches - when your find one it is an indication of many more. Saddam did not make just one - he made tons.
Saddam had 220 tons of nerve gas, counted previously by U.N. inspectors that he could not declare to Hans Blix. The deadly gas, and the delivery systems, vanished into the Iraqi desert and points beyond.
U.S. satellite's detected large convoys of unspecified equipment flowing over the Iraqi/Syrian border just prior to the war. The General in charge of our space assets has publicly noted the photos showing what appeared to be weaponry passed from Iraq to Syria.
We all know from the anti-war fanatics that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - the leftist media and pundits have pounded that assertion into the American TV fact file. We are told again and again that George Bush lied.
The recent discovery of nerve gas and mustard gas in Iraq is clearly proof that it was Saddam Hussein that was lying. Saddam lied about his weapons and has hidden more than one for future use.
The fact is the left will not be satisfied with the recent discovery. How many need to be found - two - ten - a thousand? The left does not feel that any number of these dangerous weapons reaches the level of adequate proof.
Yet, the one important question they will not answer is: How many have to die from such a weapon to qualify?
BUMP!
I never had ANY doubt.
The liberals are already spinning this:
1. It was only one shell
2. It didn't kill anyone
3. We were lied to because Bush said there were stockpiles.
Questions: which band of insurgents converted the artillery shell to an IED? Did they know it contained Sarin? Where did they get the shell? Do they have access to weapons depots that the coalition does not know about?
MSNBC: Samir Sumaida'ie Iraq interior Minister, acting head of Iraqi Governing Council, states: Sarin find -evidence that Sadam has WMD. Samir trying to calm citizens of Iraq who are becoming alarmed.
The only way the media will cover any of this is if more WMDs are found...when they are found, I hope we launch a few at their precious mosques and kill off these "insurgents" before they kill us!
on to syria? once bitten...
Mustard gas? Sarin? That's nothing...now, if somebody had tried to put a pair of women's undies on a soldier's head...THAT'S criminal and awful!!
Hey John Kerry, can you say rope-a-dope? You and your left-wing allies are about to be hung out to dry. Look for more WMD discoveries in the next five months. Repeat after me slowly, "rope....a....dope."
4. Reagan sold Saddam the precursors. (coming soon)
Nor did I. And I still think we are going to find much more, eventually.
Not that it will matter one bit to the Dems. Anything that would help Bush is going to be whitewashed into oblivion as soon as possible.
Anything that hurts him is going to stick like pizza stains on a white shirt.
Well, they are openly attributing it to Bush's drop in the polls, so as long as they're getting results I imagine they'll continue.
They're doing follow up stories regarding much more serious abuse now. All based on heresay, of course. I figgur they could go a for another month this way.
I dunno, but if you we can get any recent captives to tell us by taking naked pictures of them, it'd be ok with me.
Questions: which band of insurgents converted the artillery shell to an IED? Did they know it contained Sarin? Where did they get the shell? Do they have access to weapons depots that the coalition does not know about?
I dunno, but if we can get any recent captives to tell us by taking naked pictures of them, it'd be ok with me.
I'd sure like to see a "cartoon" in which mike lukovich meets his demise after inhaling sarin. The painful death wouldn't bother me at all while I watch him waste away.
As far as the first two items on your list go, Freepers are the same. I love the "but it was just a small amount" comments--when it takes only a very tiny amount to be lethal.
Marie's Hubby
It'll be quite funny to watch the leftists change their propaganda from "NO WMDs! NO WMDs!" to "NO STOCKPILES! NO STOCKPILES!"
Rummy picked the shell up from Pine Bluff before his visit to Iraq

Liberal lemmings take heed of Mssrs. Kerry, Hersh & Moore, and make their way to the cliff's edge.
Hans Blix says it's not a sign of WMD. Therefore this does not qualify... Of course, Blix and his employees are still cashing their checks from the UN "oil for food" scandal.
If they didn't, they sure do now. I hope we find the group that did this and the rest of the shells fast.
Sounds like a job fer Registered...MUD
BTW...don't fergit PhatTeddyK!!
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A roadside bomb thought to contain deadly sarin nerve agent exploded near a U.S. military convoy, the U.S. military said Monday. It was believed to be the first confirmed discovery of any of the banned weapons that the United States cited in making its case for the Iraq war.........
Two former weapons inspectors Hans Blix and David Kay said the shell was likely a stray weapon that had been scavenged by militants and did not signify that Iraq had large stockpiles of such weapons...........
But Kay, the former chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq, said the discovery does not provide evidence that Saddam was secretly producing weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War, as alleged by the Bush administration to justify the war that removed him from power. "
Nope, my FRiend, you are wrong...the Vast, LeftWing Medyuh Whore'd no longer controls news in America.
The Truth will TRUMP the DemonRATS' spin!!
FReegards...MUD
You think that it's a coincidence that Rummy was in Iraq just before Sarin gas was mysteriously found? HMMMMMMmmmmmm?
The media's unprecedented allengiance to the Democratic Party during this political season has put them in a very precarious situation. Their irrational exhuberance to topple Bush has left them so over exposed, that they are now literally fighting for their survival as an influential entity in this country.
Their position is so irrational, that not only have they ignored what many of their Democratic brethern have said in the past regarding WMDs and Saddam's terrorist ties...the media itself has ignored their own reports and stories from only a few short years ago, which all support the claims Bush has made.
The desire to advance their own partisan, political agenda has now jepoardized their credibility...which for a journalist, is all they really have. They will continue to fight and spin it to the end...but when the dust finally settles, hopefully we won't have just defeated the enemy from abroad, we will have also defeated the enemy from within.
Unfortunately, they are well aware of this and this is why they will never concede. This is why if and when stockpiles of WMDs are ever found, it will be the media leading the charge with "Bush planted them." This is why they allow conspiracy theories to fly around unchallenged, when they would never give this same credibility to theories coming from the right...at least without not first labeling them as part of the VRWC. This is war...and they can't afford to lose.
I heard on the radio today that the NYT, of all people, says that Lynndie England gave a sworn statement saying that the "prison abuse" was not interrogation, but that they just did it because it was "fun." I haven't seen it posted here yet, and I really don't want to go to the NYT site.
They could find the warehouse of WMD's and the press would totally ignore it, like they did with Nick Berg's murder last week.
1. It was only one shell
2. It didn't kill anyone
3. We were lied to because Bush said there were stockpiles.
You forgot the most important one: 4. It's Bush's fault.
Don't quite know how, but somehow, he did something and it's his fault. It rained here earlier. It was his fault. The hypocrisies who run the Left's spin machine (Dan Rather and company) will be working overtime on this one to somehow blame Bush.
Take a look for the story on the CNN front page. You'll be looking for a while since they took the story off the front page. Apparently a predicted busy hurricane season, Bono addressing Ivy League grads, and transsexuals in the Olympics are more important.
Don't sweat it!
I'm sure there's an embed somewhere that has a picture of Rumsfeld smuggling the shell into the country over the weekend during his official visit.
Latest, totally made-up, fictional, rumor...
A pair of used, Hillary!, undies were found draped over the warhead. No confirmation if they were boxers or briefs.
On another political forum I enjoy, one leftist went so far as to say it was planted by President Bush.
Which band of insurgents converted the artillery shell to an IED? Al Qaeda
Did they know it contained Sarin? Yes
Where did they get the shell? From the Stockpiles
Do they have access to weapons depots that the coalition does not know about? Yes
I hate that SOB. Further Fri. nite I was having a discussion with my liberal left coast buddy and I asked him a simple question- what would it take for you to come to my understanding of this threat ? Answer- nuclear attack. Not chem, not bio, nuclear. So I guess it's that difficult to make these left wing idiots understand the seriousness of the Islamic jihadis. Nuclear. By the way my old friend is an unemployed union carpenter living in his truck in silicon valley. Need I say more ?
You keep forgetting that the media is more interested in flooding us with "hideous" pictures of panty-pranks at Abu-Grabby, than responsibly reporting on the war on terror.
But David Kay says it's no big deal and he doesn't believe it is part of a stockpile. Who recommended him to Bush in the first place?
Dont forget Hans Blix, Scott Ritter, Teddy Kennedy, Hitlery, and all the media pundits that swore there were no WMDs to be found and that Bush lied. Will they apologize?
It will be pesticide like in the drums that were found early on in one weapons dump. What happened to the biochem labs which turned out to be mobile slurpy delivery vehicles or some such nonsense.
Any WMD in Iraq have probably (re)entered Iraq recently.
Six die as suspicions of anthrax mount in northern city (Iraq) iraq press ^ | 5/12/04
Posted on 05/12/2004 9:01:55 PM EDT by knak
Mosul, Iraq Press, May 11, 2004 Six people have died and many other are taken ill due to a disease whose symptoms doctors say resemble those caused by anthrax, according to hospital sources.
The sources, refusing to be named, said doctors in the Republican Hospital, the largest medical center in northern Iraq, suspect that the victims were exposed to anthrax.
They said a whole wing of the sprawling hospital has been cordoned off as doctors fear the disease might spread to other patients.
The sources said the doctors suspect that a patient brought to hospital two weeks ago was the cause of the disease.
Anthrax spreads quickly and the six patients were said to have caught the disease as they were being treated for other ailments in the hospital.
The patient who the doctors believe brought the anthrax was a shepherd and had already died, the sources said.
The hospital lacks means to battle the deadly disease. But the medical staff and support personnel have already been inoculated against anthrax, they said.
There is much confusion in the hospital, the sources said. Hospital officials have declined comment and would not go into details when asked about the causes of the latest deaths.
Iraq had confirmed that it made anthrax in the 1980s along with other germ warfare agents. The former regime produced weapons-grade dry anthrax powder which it claimed to have unilaterally destroyed.
UN weapons inspectors failed to get conclusive evidence that Iraq had scrapped its biological warfare program on its own.
US-led weapons experts have so far failed to uncover any germ warfare agents.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.