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Give me Tunis on five and hold the Mayo?
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Posted on 10/08/2006 4:40:30 PM PDT by ARealMothersSonForever
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick from poisoning Sunday at a base in southern Iraq after the evening meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast, and officials said they were investigating whether the poisoning was intentional.
An official with the Environment Ministry said 11 policemen had died. However, the governor of Wasit province — where the poisoning took place — denied any deaths, though he said some of the victims were in critical condition. There was no immediate explanation for the contradictory reports.
Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal, said Jassim al-Atwan, an inspector for the Environment Ministry, who was serving as a liaison in the investigation between the Health Ministry and the base, located in the town of Numaniyah.
"Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the iftar," Wasit Gov. Hamad al-Latif told the Associated Press, referring to the meal that breaks the sunrise-to-sunset fast during the Islamic holy month. "Investigations are under way to determine the cause."
Samples of the food and water were being tested "to determine the substance in them" and will be sent to Baghdad for further tests, al-Latif said.
Sunni insurgents who have targeted police and military forces with bombings and shootings have not been known to use poisoning as a weapon. But the suddenness and severity of the sickness raised speculation that the incident could be a new attack. The division is mainly made up of Shiites.
Between 600-700 policemen were affected to varying degrees, and 11 who had the heaviest amount of the food had died, al-Atwan told The Associated Press.
Some of the soldiers collapsed as soon as they stood up from them meal, others fell "one after the other" as they headed out to the yard in the base to line up in formation, al-Atwan said.
Iraqi ambulances and helicopters sent by the U.S. military rushed the policemen to hospitals in Numaniyah and the nearby city of Kut.
The afflicted policemen belonged to the 4th Division of the National Police, nicknamed the "Karrar" Division, after a title of Imam Ali, the most revered Shiite saint.
The division normally operates around the town of Salman Pak on the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad — an area of intense Shiite-Sunni killings. The division was sent to the base in Numaniyah, 60 miles southeast of the capital, for further training.
Al-Latif said food and water at the base are provided by an Australian contractor working through Iraqi subcontractors. He did not identify the Australian firm.
I looked up what Jim Jones mixed in the drink back in the 80's for the mass suicide of that cult. It contained cyanide and valium. Cyanide would cause foaming of the mouth, possibly mixed with blood. That worked rapidly, but it didn't cause the symptoms reported of bleeding ears and of bleeding through the mouth. I don't know. Maybe once they test the food, we will know more.
LOL.
Compared to what I ate in Nam, '69-'71, MREs are a banquet. We can surely come up with something *edible*, G.
Let's begin working on that problem...
Then again there was probably a lot of chemical manufacturing going on during Sadam's reign.
They must have had the fish.
I don't think coumadin could cause.
You're right. I've had the misfortune to have had food poisoning twice - it takes awhile longer to get sick from it.
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Give me Tunis on five and hold the Mayo?
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Well, I suggested using the testers. With some onions, pepper, bay leaves, rice and a bit of oil one tester could form a meal for a couple of squads. Three meals a day= 6 testers per platoon per day. Doable.
Here's a hazmat link about yellowcake - http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/hazmap_generic?tbl=TblAgents&id=43
"No grossly observable signs or symptoms were induced in mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, or dogs following the first day of exposure..."
There are potent clot busters which are used to emergencies to stop a stroke or pulmonary embolism but even then the risk for a bleed is small and it usually happens internally.
Headline: Generals May Have Had Food Poisoning
Wire Service: APO (AP Online)
Date: Wed, Sep 27, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- One of two war commanders who suffered possible food
poisoning last week was sick enough that he was hospitalized for three
nights, not one as officials previously reported.
Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Gen. John
Abizaid, the top commander for Iraq, Afghanistan and the entire region,
fell ill after dining out near the capital last week.
The pair ate at a local restaurant on Sept. 20 and some hours later both
were not feeling well, officials said.
Eikenberry soon recovered, said Lt. Col. John Paradis, a spokesman in
Kabul.
But Abizaid felt increasingly sick last Thursday and decided to go to
Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He spent three nights there before being
released Sunday morning, Maj. Matthew McLaughlin at U.S. Central Command in
Tampa, said Wednesday.
Central Command had previously said Abizaid entered the hospital last
Friday and was released Saturday.
"Gen. Abizaid recovered fully -- he was treated for what can best be
described as symptoms consistent with food poisoning," McLaughlin said in
an e-mail. "He returned to Tampa on Sunday in good health and spirits."
The pair were in Washington for several days with a number of other
senior commanders, going to routine meetings with Defense Secretary Donald
H. Rumsfeld and other officials. Abizaid also briefed members of Congress
on the two wars.
Oakey doakey, G.
Too soon after ingesting.
I was thinking this sounds like radiation poisoning, maybe in combination with ground glass in the food and warfarin.
I would think Coumadin would take awhile longer to act. I once worked on a case for a lawyer where a prescription for coumadin was filled for an elderly man at a much greater dose then he was supposed to receive. Even so, it was several days before the effects became apparent and then it was more like heavy blood pooling under the skin. No bleeding right off from the nose or ears.
That is indeed the first thought that crossed my mind, although something like that could be unintentional. It could be a cross contamination issue.
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