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.
And in my searches, I keep coming back to that in relation to the symptoms. Here's a new one:
Mycotoxins and Gulf War illness: A possible link
Excerpt: In 1995, four years after the end of the Gulf War, inspectors with the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM), the U.N. agency responsible for uncovering and eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, determined that Iraq had produced large quantities of aflatoxin. According to an UNSCOM status report released in October 1995, Iraq admitted that it had begun studies of aflatoxin in May 1988 at a biological weapons laboratory near the town of Al Salman. The U.N. report notes, "Research was conducted into the toxic effects of aflatoxins as biological warfare agents and their effect when combined with other chemicals." [23] To this end, Iraqi scientists studied the effects of these toxins on sheep, donkeys, monkeys, and dogs in the laboratory and in a special inhalation chamber, as well as in the field. Iraqi Production and Weaponization of Aflatoxin
Iraq also admitted to UNSCOM that it had engaged in the large-scale production and weaponization of aflatoxin. Beginning in 1988, Iraq cultivated the toxin-producing mold Aspergillus in five-liter flasks at the Al Salman facility. In 1989, production of aflatoxin for biological-weapons purposes was moved to another plant near the town of Fudaliyah. Here, between April and December 1990, Iraqi scientists produced a total of about 1,850 liters of concentrated aflatoxin in solution. [24]
In November 1989 and in May and August 1990, Iraq conducted weaponization trials of aflatoxin in 122mm artillery rockets and R400 aerial bombs. In December 1990, aflatoxin and two other biological-warfare agents (anthrax spores and botulinum toxin) were filled into R400 aerial bombs and warheads for the Al-Hussein missile, an extended-range version of the Soviet Scud. To date, Iraq has admitted producing a total of 2,200 liters of concentrated aflatoxin, of which 1,580 liters were filled into 16 aerial bombs and two missile warheads. [25]
Baghdad claims that all of its biological weapons, including those filled with aflatoxin, were deployed in early January 1991 at sites well north of the Kuwait Theater of Operations (KTO) and remained unused throughout the Gulf War. According to Iraqi declarations, the aerial bombs filled with biological agents were deployed to three remote airfields, where they were placed in open pits, covered with canvas, and buried with dirt to shield them from attack. The biological warheads for the Al-Hussein missiles were reportedly hidden in a railroad tunnel and in earth-covered pits near the Tigris canal. [26] Given Iraq's long record of falsehood and deception with respect to its biological-warfare capabilities, however, these statements should not necessarily be taken at face value.
BTW: (my note) - we found some of the above-mentioned anthrax-filled R 400 bombs in December 21, 2003, so it is highly probable there were other as-yet undiscovered or still hidden WMD in Iraq that the terrorists got their hands on: Source: Inspectors returned Sunday to al-Aziziya, an abandoned helicopter airfield 60 miles southeast of Baghdad where Iraq says it destroyed R-400 bombs filled with biological weapons in 1991.
Al-Saadi said 157 of the R-400 bombs contained anthrax, aflotoxin and botulin toxin. He said Iraq has been excavating them and so far has uncovered eight bombs intact.
Have any of the PreWarDocs pointed to mycotoxin/T-2 or DAS agent testing? Or the weaponizing of any blood agents? I've read so many of those translations, it's all a blur!
"Take the children and yourself and hide out in the cellar.
By now the fighting will be close at hand.
Don't believe the church and state and everything they tell you.
Believe in me, I'm with the high command.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running,
can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running,
can you hear me calling you?
There's a gun and ammunition just inside the doorway.
Use it only in emergency.
Better you should pray to God, the father,
and the spirit will guide you and protect you from up here.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running,
can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running,
can you hear me calling you?
Swear allegance to the flag. Whatever flag they offer.
Never hint at what you really feel.
Teach the children quietly,
for someday sons and daughters,
will rise and fight while we stood still.
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running,
can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running,
can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running,
can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me running?
(can you hear me calling you?)
(can you hear me)
Hear me calling you.
(Can you hear me running?)
Hear me running back
(Can you hear me running?)
Hear me running
Calling you, calling you"
Credit Mike and the Mechanics-Silent Running
My vote is still on mustard gas -- see post 163.
It seems nothing else can cause bleeding from nose and ears so quickly.
this during Ramadan, the holiest of Muslim months... those terrorists don't have an ounce of respect for the holiest of holiest of months in the muslim calendar.
This is actually a huge story-but, the MSM will ignore the significance. They're still fixated on the Foley foolishness. The terrorists may have just tested a bio or chem weapon and it went undetected by those eating the food. Coumadin lengthens the time blood takes to clot and it takes awhile for it to become effective. I don't think even a massive overdose would work this quickly. The police were spontaneously hemorrhaging and falling over-almost Ebola like. Scary stuff.
holdonnow, Do you concur about how grave this situation might be?
If so, could you mention it (either on your own, or to Hannity and other radio hosts)?
NO cheers, unfortunately!
Over what period of time? over 1 hr one could have to go a bit higher, judging from the Chernobyl firefighters; and the eaten radiosotope would still be within their systems - i.e. by now there would be not the sick patients but liquid protoplasma pools.
TANKS for the post,,,I think we will know by tomorrow,,
What's Next,Is my question,,,
WorldNetDaily must have read your post:
Terror WMD feared in police poisoning
Hundreds of Iraqi officers, some bleeding from ears, others believed dead, ill after breaking Ramadan fast
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52352
The suddenness and severity of the mass poisoning immediately raised fears of a new kind of terrorist attack for the nation of Iraq where weapons of mass destruction have not been used since Saddam Hussein was in power.
Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein had an extremely potent mustard gas called "khardal" in Arabic. It was originally manufactured in Russia. Symptoms include bleeding from the eyes, ears and nose two minutes after exposure.
Gee, ya really think it was intentional?
btttt
See michigander's post #163!
Sorry if I repeat some other thoughts, can't review all the posts here it's so popular a thread (well, in a bad way).
The fact that these men got poisoned during Ramadan is sickening and vile, as the plotters may have known that larger numbers than usual may have been sitting down to a meal together after fasting for the day.
There is a Robert Ludlum novel where, despite the best security, a President/dignitary gets poisoned and dies in minutes from somebody who infiltrated the kitchen. I can't remember the book, or whether he bled immediately.
There, wasn't that helpful? /jk
Thanks for the heads up. Why in the world are you still awake?
L
I agree with this. I can guarantee if someone put a huge dose of coumadin in my supper I would not develop immediate bleeding as this scenario describes. This is WMD until proven otherwise.
The chef got the mustard and mustard gas containers mixed up.
Could have been. And NK might have accidentally popped a nuke or so. I guess we will never know for sure.
Hate it when that happens. Whole new meaning to "hell on the red".
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