Deadly chemicals are found dumped in river

London Daily Telegraph ^ | 4-5-03 | David Harrison

[Prince Charles]

Deadly chemicals are found dumped in river

By David Harrison in Nasiriyah

(Filed: 06/04/2003)

Mustard gas and cyanide have been found in river water in the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, coalition forces said yesterday.

The poisonous substances are believed to have been dumped in the Euphrates either by Iraqi soldiers fleeing from American troops or local factories that produced weapons of mass destruction.

A spokesman for the United States marines, based just outside the city, described the quantities of chemical agents found as "significant" and claimed that it was further evidence that Saddam Hussein has produced weapons of mass destruction.

He said yesterday: "I think this discovery shows what kind of guy is running this country.

"This stuff is just dumped in the Euphrates without any concern for the many people who drink and wash with water from the river."

The poisons were discovered by the marines' scientists who were testing the quality of water taken from the Euphrates before purifying it and distributing it to the residents of Nasiriyah, a city of 250,000 people.

It follows the discovery of hundreds of gas masks and chemical warfare suits at a military base near the city.

Weapons found at the site included rocket launchers, machine-guns and rifles, bayonets and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Yesterday the site was deserted except for a few American soldiers examining the contents of the armoury, picking their way carefully through grenades and a huge amount of other explosives packed in boxes or strewn in and around the storerooms.

Among the boxes were papers with details of Iraqi soldiers, each with a small black-and-white passport photograph attached. There were also dozens of unused black berets of the sort worn frequently by Saddam Hussein.

The marines returned to the Euphrates in Nasiriyah yesterday to distribute purified water to hundreds of Iraqis who formed an orderly queue on the river bank.

Under the watchful gaze of heavily armed troops, the water was taken directly from the river, cleaned and then piped into buckets and jerry cans of all shapes and sizes.

Most residents were pleased that water was being provided, although some pointed out that the water problem only arose at the beginning of the war when American aircraft destroyed the city's treatment plant.

Abdul Ahmed, 33, said: "We are grateful for their help but we only have this problem because of the American bombings."

He added: "Before that we had water from the taps in our houses so we are still worse off than we were before the start of the war."

[Prince Charles]

Ignorance is Blix.

[PhiKapMom]

This was reported yesterday morning by Dr. Bob Arnott from MSNBC. He was there when the testing was taking place.

[Prince Charles]

This was the first I'd heard of it. Regards.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The facts are coming in now!

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Jalapeno]

Bet it flows in the Tigris as well.

[RippleFire]

bump

[BossLady]

Iraq does not have chemical weapons....This is false information....It is all a Hollywood movie... /sarcasm

[lilylangtree]

Well, Scottie Ritter and Hansie Blix, what do you have to say for yourselves?

[Oorang]

They are finding so much stuff, chemicals, chem/bio suits, books/manuals on dealing with the material. Hans Blix needs to be charged with dereliction of duty with this is all over.

[Windcatcher]

/sarcasm
Isn't Hollywood *against* the war?
/sarcasm

Sheesh. How stupid do the Iraquis think we are?

[Boundless]

> ... reported yesterday morning by Dr. Bob Arnott from
> MSNBC. He was there when the testing was taking place.

I heard a report, and this one neither confirms nor refutes
it, that the cynanide was later thought to be at natural
background levels for the river at that point. Any updates
on this?

The answer to that, of course, does nothing to explain the
presence of mustard.

Let's not get overanxious about this and leap on every
report from fog-of-war-land. If the agents are out there,
they'll be found soon enough.

(And if we were going to plant them, they'd have already
been "found" some time ago :-)

[PhiKapMom]

I was just reporting what Dr. Arnott said yesterday as he was there when the testing was done. The mustard agent was high on the first test and went down as it was more diluted by the water.

BTW I am not overanxious. I know we will find the find WMD's and probably already have but there has been a lid on reporting. Dr. Arnott did not report this as WMD's BTW. It was a concern because the concentration was high right outside the reverse osmosis intake valve which is used to provide water for our troops.

[Calpernia]

Well, technically, the regime USED bio/chem weapons. Granted it was not sprayed on the troops; but it is in the river that is used by civilians. So, where is France now? They said they would assist if the regime used bio/chem weapons.

not that we want france involved, I would be curious as to their response now

[Tom D.]

Those guys are really in for it now. They have polluted some water. The environmentalists are going to be on the Iraqis like flies on camel crap.

[BossLady]

Exactly!!!! Wow....they sure have us fooled.... /sarcasm

[Windcatcher]

The environuts will conveniently look the other way. Can't have Bush looking good, now...

[Mentos]

A concentration of cyanide high enough to measure is probably enough to kill you.

[deport]

Who knows what the correct story is......

---

Euphrates Chemical Tests Said Negative

No Indications So Far That Chemical Found in Iraq's Euphrates River Are Illegal, Officials Say

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON April 4 —

U.S. Marines near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah found what initially appeared to be suspicious chemicals in water samples from the Euphrates River, two defense officials said Friday.

Details were sketchy, but both officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they knew of no indications that subsequent tests of the water had confirmed the presence of illegal chemicals.

The Marines reported the suspicious substances a few days ago, the officials said.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030404_885.html

[terilyn]

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