GAS WARHEADS ‘READY TO FIRE'

New York Post ^ | 4/08/03 | NILES LATHEM and ANDY SOLTIS

[kattracks]

U.S. experts will study samples of suspected nerve gas found in 20 newly discovered Iraqi missile warheads that may be the "smoking gun" of Saddam Hussein's long-denied illegal arms cache, officials said yesterday.

Pentagon officials said reports of the ready-to-fire missiles found near Baghdad - as well as chemicals in huge metal drums hidden near Karbala - were the hardest evidence so far of the weapons of mass destruction that U.N. weapons inspectors failed to find.

[Leroy S. Mort]

How ironic that the embedded reporter was from NPR.....

[thinden]

The medium-range BM-21 missiles - which travel 15 miles - were equipped with sarin and mustard gas and were "ready to fire," U.S. officials said, according to NPR.

suppose this could have been the cause of Gulf War Syndrome?

[thoughtomator]

I know very little of the biological interactions of nerve agents, but I do know that many victims of "Gulf War Syndrome" came down with a condition that closely resembles ALS (aka "Lou Gherig's Disease") - which is a degenerative nerve disease. It's not too farfetched to believe nerve gas could cause a nerve disease, is it?

[thinden]

thanx for the explanation.

[cardinal4]

How ironic that the embedded reporter was from NPR.....

NPR? Non Plausible Reporting?

[rogers21774]

I keep seeing and hearing people refering to "the" smoking gun, as if we will only find one instance of banned weapons. When this is all over we will find an entire arsenal of "smoking guns". So much so that if you put them all together they'd create a raging inferno.

Having said that, if by some unimaginable fluke, we never find any WMD, will it really matter? Look at what Saddam has done to his people and his country. I believe we have a moral obligation to confront evil wherever we find it. That alone is justification enough for this war.

[Born Conservative]

It said the cache was discovered by Marines on the move with the 101st Airborne Division

I thought the 101st Airborne Division was the Army? Would the Marines be attached to an Army unit?

[Mr. Wright]

"Leave the man alone - he is doing no one any harm!"
Quote from the liberal left

[Coop]

I thought the 101st Airborne Division was the Army? Would the Marines be attached to an Army unit?

Possibly, but it's more likely a reporting error.

[LTCJ]

Gas warheads ready-to-fire may be the smoking gun?

What were they? Pesticide missiles ready for crop dusting?

[demosthenes the elder]

well, well, well...
let us convene a partial session of the UN, to be held in one of Saddam's palace's basement, including all the inspectors, Mr. Blix, Mr. Annan, and the UN delegates from all countries which did not support us in our efforts... and then open these warheads in their chambers, to prove to them in the most conclusive way possible that Saddam did indeed have WMD.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Exactly. If they've determined that a gaseous compound is in the warheads, how unlikely is it that the compound is not a WMD?

[shhrubbery!]

Leftists/peaceniks will jump on the report that some barrels were "ONLY" pesticide.

But some pesticides are chemically similar to nerve agents and can themselves be very poisonous.

Somewhere I read that Palestinian terrorist pack their bombs not only with shrapnel but with pesticide canisters to enhance the deadliness of their effect.

[I'mPeach]

Are there any updates on the DIGGING AT SCHOOL FOR CHEM WEAPONS? or ...is the schooyard the site of one of the recent discoveries of chemicals?

[Caesar Soze]

I read elsewhere on FreeRepublic that there's some Marines specializing in chemical weapons detection attached to the 101st .

[sphinx]

The barrels were found in a camouflaged pit near an agricultural compound.

Hey, I bury my pesticides and camouflage the site just for the heck of it. Doesn't everybody?

[CasearianDaoist]

Yes, happens all the time.

[stboz]

The barrels were nonetheless dangerous - some soldiers became nauseous, dizzy and developed skin blotches after contact with the three 55-gallon barrels and 11 25-gallon barrels.

What moron told these guys to touch the barrels or breathe deeply around them? Most organophosphate pesticides are just about as deadly as military agents.

Curiosity killed the cat and it'll kill our guys if it isn't controlled.

[VMI70]

For later