Posted on 05/17/2004 8:14:59 AM PDT by JusticeTalion
An artillery round containing a small amount of the nerve gas sarin has exploded in Iraq. Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt said the blast caused a small release of the substance, and two people were treated for exposure to the agent.
The substance was found in an artillery shell inside a bag discovered by a US convoy a few days ago, he said.
It appears to be the first evidence of nerve gas existing in Iraq since the start of the US-led war last year.
The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says the implications, especially psychological, for the use of such a substance by terrorists are potentially huge.
Gen Kimmitt said the dispersal of the nerve agent from a device such as the homemade bomb was "limited".
"The former regime had declared all such rounds destroyed before the 1991 Gulf War," he said.
oh boy....could this be the "tip" of the iceberg? Stay safe, soliders!
June is busting out all over on this one. All the outlets are picking it up except our "major" ones....
"How many count as proof?"
Republican = 1
DemoRAT = No matter what, it's not enough!
How do you know it wasn't brought in from outside? There are hundreds/thousands of foreign fighters in the country since the fall of Saddam, some of them Al-Qaeda linked, and many of whom have the capability/contacts to procure all sorts of chemical weapons. Don't forget it's been well over a year that these guys have been inside iraq.
Even a significant nerve gas attack at this stage would be no guarantee that the agent used was originally made or stored in Saddam-era Iraq.
This is no big deal! David Kay said so....MSNBC is covering the prisoner abuse story! (sarcasm)
Hmm. It probably won't get picked up that widely because Sarin isn't a "sexy" WMD like a nuclear device, Anthrax or Ebola.
I demand an apology.
I would say one is proof, many is a stockpile. I bet the terrorists are trying to figure out which ammo dump they stole this one from as we write.
Saddam's WMD were shipped to Syria just after the war began. There are 150 reports about Iraq's WMDs and Saddam's proven support of terrorism HERE.
JedForbes signed up on May 17, 2004.
mouse7 (1000+ posts)
Mon May-17-04 11:11 AM
Response to Reply #12
46. Rummy picked the shell up from Pine Bluff before his visit to Iraq
Awful damn convenient that the person in the world most under the microscope right now that has more access to chemical weapons than anyone else in the world just popped his head in the door to have a pep rally last week and an old sarin shell shows up minutes after he left.
Gee... I'll bet nobody checks the party that travels with Rummy either.
The answer is:
At each time T, "proof" consists of: an amount greater than has been discovered by time T
Even a significant nerve gas attack at this stage would be no guarantee that the agent used was originally made or stored in Saddam-era Iraq. A fine example of Bush-hating Democrat cognitive dissonance at work.
Do you have any evidence whatsoever to indicate this? Absent such evidence, the most logical hypothesis would be that the WMD came from nearby rather than faraway.
How odd it would be to assume it came from faraway lands unless proved otherwise! I wonder what would compel a person to adopt such a twisted stance.
These dudes are trying to find a doctor to payoff. I sure hope they pick the wrong one or the whole bunch of them drop dead at their next Sadr lecture!!
It's Bush's fault... they never would have built this bomb if it were not for Bush.
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