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.
OPINION: Poison.
During World War II, the Japanese army fed botulinum toxin to prisoners of war in Manchuria, with lethal results.
you said it first... who is the IDIOT?
Since Vietnam, to include Reagan's efforts against the Soviet Union and now our efforts in the WOT in Iraq, democrats and the MSM have provided not only encouragement, but 'aid-and-comfort' to our enemies foreign and domestic.
Nothing new here. Nothing new at all.
You are. Next question?
In post #43, I said that I don't think it could be warfarin. What are you referring to?
go back to DU please
I cant think of the name of it, but there is a chemical that can be mixed with any other chemical that causes almost instant absorbtion into the body, even through the skin.
Zim Zam water?
Well, it had to be some blood thinner stuff, blood thinning either as a primary mode of action or as a secondary. Something particularly exotic along the lines of snake poison it cannot be for purely logistic reasons, and besides, these are for injection, not digestion.
And BTW, mass onset only indicates that the victims likely consumed the stuff at, or about, the same time. Nowhere is it following from that they had to consume it with their meal 2 hrs before the symptoms - given the Ramadan fast, they could have eaten it the evening before.
DMSO
bLEEDING FROM THE EARS AND NOSE? Nope, not a typical case of food poisoning. (It was the salmon cakes)
Wow, name calling. Funny.
What you said. Our soldiers are dying every day because of democrat policies and positions.
DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide. But the absorbtion, while rapid, is not instant.
"Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal
"Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the iftar,"
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. '
===
Any thoughts what could cause this sudden severe reaction?
That's a good point. I was wondering if it was just a coincidence that they became ill at this meal.
Oral ingestion is also a problem - slows down the effects. So, it may have been administered previous to that meal.
They were just breaking fast. Due to fasting, would medication work quicker? Maybe someone took advantage of that.
Yep, thats what I was thinking of. I would think a chemical like that could make alot of things that would normally be benign very dangerous.
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