Secret Russian gas identified

The Washington Times ^ | October 29, 2002 | Jack Wheeler

[Quilla]

Across the world, yesterday's newspapers carried front-page headlines similar to that of The Washington Times: "Russia Remains Silent on Deadly Knockout Gas." The mystery of the knockout gas's identity has been solved.

Last Wednesday, some 50 Muslim terrorists from the Russian province of Chechnya stormed a theater in Moscow and took as hostages about 800 people (mostly Russians) who were watching a play. The terrorists demanded that Russian troops depart Chechnya, or else they would murder the hostages in cold blood. His patience running out and afraid the terrorists would carry out their threat, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a commando assault on the theater, led by crack Speznaz special operations teams.

[Enemy Of The State]

so you think that the antidote should be made public so that the terrorists could arm carry it with them in the event that such a weapon is used against them again in the future? Why dont we just give all our enemies the antidotes to the chem. weps we have while were at it.

[nicmarlo]

The Islamic/Chechen/al Qaeda terrorists would have left ZERO alive. ZERO.

Agreed; the deaths which occurred are terribly sad and unfortunate, but those deaths were all due to the works of the TERRORISTS.

[MHGinTN]

The Chechen Terrorists have a hsitory of slaughtering all they can. What the Russian/Putin decision did do is SAVE THE BIGGER MAJORITY OF HOSTAGES THAT THE TERRORISTS INTENDED TO SLAUGHTER.

[weegee]

Something I haven't read anywhere... did any of the terrorists die from the gas? I read about the hostages. Could there have been any identity issues?

And the article goes far enough to report that the terrorists might circumvent such a countermeasure by taking xxx as an antidote. Have to wonder who's side they are on really.

[Quilla]

No, the antidote should not be given to the general public. I may have misstated. I do believe though, that the antidote should have been 'made public' to the medical professionals who treated the hostages. It may have leaked out, who knows. But that's a moot point once the media gets a hold of the information.

[Quilla]

weegee, it's my understanding that Russian forces stormed the theater and killed all but one of the terrorists. If they had better 'rations' during the ordeal and were consequently in better health, they may have been less affected by the gas. But, by killing them before they were able to come around and set off the explosives attached to their bodies, I suspect it would be difficult to determine if their gas exposure was lethal.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

The identity of the deadly mystery knockout gas is clear, however. It is a synthetic opiate called etorphine.

M99.

Doesn't this fall under the category of "loose lips sink ships"? (For Jack Wheeler, that is.) If M99 is indeed the substance, the reason the Russian government doesn't want anyone to know is so that the terrorists can't prepare for any future M99 gassings (antidotes, treatments, etc).