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Fuzzy
Posted on 04/06/2003 10:57:07 PM PDT by HAL9000
ALBU MUHAWISH, Iraq - U.S. soldiers evacuated an Iraqi military compound early Monday after tests by a mobile laboratory detected the presence of sarin, a powerful nerve agent.
The testing came after more than a dozen soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne Division who guarded the military compound on Saturday night came down with symptoms consistent with exposure to very low levels of nerve agent, including vomiting, dizziness and skin blotches.
The soldiers, along with a Knight Ridder reporter, a CNN cameraman and two Iraqi prisoners of war, were sent for chemical weapons decontamination and hosed down with water and bleach.
If subsequent tests uphold the findings, it would be the first evidence of weapons of mass destruction, a cornerstone of the Bush administration's rationale for the invasion of Iraq and something that eluded United Nations inspectors for months.
Early tests for chemical agents at the compound were inconsistent. Some showed the presence of so-called G-Series nerve agents, which include tabun and sarin, both of which Iraq has been known to possess. A hand-held scanning device also indicated the soldiers had been exposed to a nerve agent. Other tests, however, came back negative.
More precise tests by an Army Fox mobile nuclear, biological and chemical detection laboratory indicated the existence of sarin and triggered the evacuation of the captured military compound by dozens of soldiers.
Sgt. Todd Ruggles, a biochemical expert attached to the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne said: "I was right" that the nerve agent was present.
Even as the tests were being done, high-ranking commanders hastened to the scene on Sunday to examine the sites, including Col. Joseph Anderson, 2nd Brigade commander; Brig. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, assistant commander of the 101st Airborne for operations; and Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, division commander.
They made no comment afterward on what was contained in the sites near the village of Albu Muhawish, on the Euphrates River about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
U.S. soldiers found suspect chemicals at two sites: an agricultural warehouse containing 55-gallon chemical drums, which was later sealed off, and the military compound, which soldiers had begun searching on Saturday. The soldiers also found hundreds of gas masks and chemical suits at the military complex, along with large numbers of mortar and artillery rounds.
"We do think there's stuff in this compound and the other compound, but we think it's buried," said Army 1st Lt. Elena Aravjo of the 63rd Chemical Company. "I'm really suspicious of both of those compounds."
Sarin, an odorless, colorless and tasteless substance, can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin and is considered one of the most feared but also the most volatile of the nerve agents, chemical weapons experts have said. A cloud of sarin can dissipate after several minutes or hours depending on wind and temperature.
The soldiers, journalists and prisoners of war who tested positive were isolated as everyone else evacuated the area. After about 45 minutes, the group was walked single-file down a road for about a city block to where two water trucks awaited them. The men stepped between the two trucks and were hosed down as they lathered themselves with a detergent containing bleach.
LOL!!!
MEGA-
Stay Strong
Fuzzy
FOX NEWS.com: "COALITION DISCOVERS SUSPICIOUS SITES NEAR BAGHADAD" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NEAR BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. troops on Friday found thousands of boxes of white powder, nerve agent antidote, unidentified liquid and Arabic documents on how to engage in chemical warfare, U.S. military officials said. Forces made the discovery at an industrial site south of Baghdad. Reuters reported that they also found a second site containing vials of unidentified liquid and white powder. A U.S. officer said the site was close to the other plant, at the Latifiyah industrial complex, about 25 miles south of Baghdad, where soldiers had found the other vials and manuals. "It is clearly a suspicious site," Col. John Peabody, engineer brigade commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said of the first site. Also discovered was atropine, used to counter the effects of exposure to chemical agents, and 2-Pam chloride, which is used in combination with atropine in case of chemical attack.") (April 4, 2003) (Read More...)
FOX NEWS.com: "NEW EVIDENCE MAY LINK IRAQ MILITANTS TO AL-QAEDA" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON -- Evidence has been found in the Kurdish-controlled regions of northern Iraq that the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam was working on three types of chlorine gas and ricin and has ties to Al Qaeda, U.S. officials told Fox News. Officials said that between 75 and 150 Al Qaeda members have been captured or killed in northern Iraq in recent days. U.S. sources told Fox News that documents and equipment were found in the rubble of an Ansar facility that had been built into a cliff near Sargat. The material was described as "a cookbook and kitchen" for chemical weapons. Other items included latex gloves, penicillin, a freezer and lab equipment. Sources said additional tests are planned.") (April 3, 2003) (Read More...)
DAILY TELEGRAPH.NEWS.com.au: "EVIL PROOF" by Bruce Wilson in London (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "BRITISH troops have uncovered a bunker full of weapons of mass destruction in the southern Iraqi oilfields. The Ministry of Defence released a dramatic video it said showed more than 100 chemical warfare protection suits and mounds of dozens of artillery rounds it said contained suspected "weapons of mass destruction". It was not immediately clear if the weapons contained chemical or biological warheads. They were not believed to be nuclear. The bunker had been recently deserted by fleeing Iraqi troops attacked by a unit from the Irish Guards, a spokesman said. The film showed Guardsmen turning over chemical suits and standing beside piles of shells said to contain the deadly warheads.") (March 28, 2003) (Read More...)
THE SCOTSMAN.com: "MISSILES FIND IN CHEMICAL PLANT" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "EXPERTS are examining suspected Scud missiles discovered by British soldiers searching a chemical plant outside Basra. A number of the grey-painted rockets, about 23ft long, were found in the Dirhamiyah petro-chemical plant close to Iraq’s second city. The discovery has raised suspicions that Saddam Hussein was planning to arm the missiles with chemical warheads. British officers say it is difficult to find an innocent explanation for storing missiles in a chemical plant. The find comes a day after soldiers with the Black Watch discovered a cache of weapons, including two Russian al-Harith anti-ship cruise missiles, at the Az Zubayr civilian heliport south of Basra.") (March 25, 2003) (Read More...)
FOX NEWS.com: "INSPECTORS FIND BANNED IRAQI BOMBS" by Liza Poteus (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NEW YORK --- International weapons inspectors have stumbled upon a new kind of bomb in Iraq that could be filled with chemical or biological agents and strewn over populated areas, Fox News has confirmed. Baghdad also may have in its possession a drone aircraft capable of spraying harmful agents over its enemies.") (March 10, 2003) (Read More...)
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