Poison missiles found by G.I.s

New York Daily News | 4/08/03 | DEREK ROSE

[kattracks]

U.S. forces found missiles tipped with deadly chemical weapons in a warehouse near Baghdad, it was reported yesterday. If confirmed, the discovery would be the smoking gun the United States is looking for to justify the war to oust Saddam Hussein.

National Public Radio reported the missiles were armed with warheads tipped with sarin and mustard gas.

"This is not just trace elements - this is actual sarin and mustard gas in the projectiles, full, ready to fire," said NPR reporter John Burnett, citing an official with the 1st Marine Division.

The 20 or so missiles were captured by the 101st Airborne Division in a warehouse near the Baghdad airport.

NPR identified the truck-mounted rocket launcher as a BM-21 - the same Soviet-made system Saddam used in the 1980s to deliver deadly nerve agents during the Iran-Iraq war. Each 9-foot missile has a range of about 15 miles.

In a separate discovery, the Pentagon was bringing samples of chemicals found Sunday in two warehouses in Abul Muhawish - south of Baghdad - back to the U.S. for further testing.

Initial tests revealed the chemical agents found in the barrels were sarin, tabun and lewisite. About a dozen soldiers became sick and developed rashes.

But Gen. Benjamin Freakly of the 101st Airborne said chemicals seized at the site, and at an agricultural compound nearby, could be pesticides. "On the other hand, it could be a chemical agent, not weaponized," he told CNN.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he was awaiting further tests. "We have to recognize that almost all first reports we get are wrong," he said

Intriguing discovery

One former UN weapons inspector told the Daily News that a methodical inspection of a complex near the village of Salman Pak that Marines seized Sunday could be significant.

The site was involved in early biological weapons research, and while inspections in the early 1990s didn't turn up anything, there was evidence the Iraqis buried materials in trenches, said Charles Duelfer, a scholar with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Sarin and tabun are related nerve agents that kill through convulsions, paralysis and asphyxiation. Mustard gas burns the skin and lungs horribly, but is not usually fatal. Lewisite causes deep blisters and can kill within minutes.

Originally published on April 8, 2003

[stevem]

I'd like to know what it takes to be a "smoking gun." The Patriots shoot down scuds. Now these are illegal weapons caught in flight. I'd call that a smoking gun.

The good guys rout an Al Qaeda base in Iraq. If that isn't a link to exported terrorism, I'd like to know what is.

One of these chemical finds will surely turn out to be the real deal. Yet, how much more smoke is required? Can we count on the nay sayers in the end suggesting they haven't found enough, or big enough smoking guns? I guess we know full well you can't justify this as simply the opportunity to eradicate a source of evil in the world.

[FryingPan101]

Hans...where are you?

[ClearCase_guy]

It's a moving target.

It used to be that Saddam was supposed to show us his WMD.
Then it was: We had to find the WMD.
Then it was: He had to use the WMD.
Then it was: We had to suffer casualties caused by WMD used by Saddam.

I'm pretty sure that if US soldier die in a VX attack, the spin will be that the use of VX was justified, because we invaded their country.

[Calico Cat]

I'm certain that if weapons of mass destruction are discovered, there will be a certain element who will be convinced that they were planted by U.S. forces. In fact--I KNOW this will happen.

[wita]

Sounds right to me. That being said, there must somehow be a huge disconnect in the brains of those who share the thoughts ideas and feelings of the leftist communist socialist ideal.