Special forces already inside Iraq: Chemical response expected to U.S. Operation Iraqi Freedom

NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES ^ | March 18, 2003 | Jim Miklaszewski

[estjohn]

U.S. special forces and CIA agents have already entered Iraq and are scouting potential targets, gathering intelligence and preparing the battlefield for a U.S. invasion that would likely be code-named Operation Iraqi Freedom, military sources told NBC News on Tuesday.

[snip]

They also revealed that intelligence reports were indicating that Saddam was preparing to use chemical weapons against U.S. troops.

Artillery shells with chemical warheads were being handed out to troops of Saddam's elite Republican Guard at Al Kut, southeast of Baghdad, the reports indicated, while preparations were under way to coat bridges and roadways with a lethal VX nerve agent to slow U.S. troops on their advance to Baghdad.

U.S. intelligence reports also indicated that Saddam had as many as 50 unmanned drones he could use to attack U.S. troops with chemical weapons from the air, the sources told NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski.

[TLBSHOW]

Key Developments Concerning Iraq

Tuesday March 18, 2003 9:30 PM


%dheadline(^Key developments concerning Iraq<<%) Key developments concerning the diplomatic and military efforts to disarm Iraq

By The Associated Press

Developments in the Iraq crisis:

- Saddam Hussein defied the U.S. ultimatum to leave Iraq with his sons by Wednesday night or face war. Saddam appeared on television in military uniform for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, warning his commanders to prepare for battle. Iraq's al-Shabab television, owned by Saddam's eldest son, Odai, said the decision to defy the ultimatum was made in a leadership meeting chaired by the Iraqi leader. Mobilized by a televised appeal, thousands of demonstrators swept into the streets of Baghdad to show their support for Saddam.

- A day after delivering the ultimatum in a televised address to the nation, President Bush reached out to the leaders of Russia and China, two countries that resisted setting an ultimatum for using force against Saddam. But Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao told Bush they still preferred a U.N.-brokered solution.

- French President Jacques Chirac, whose country led opposition to war within the U.N. Security Council, said the action Bush had chosen would undermine future efforts at peaceful disarmament.

- Secretary of State Colin Powell said that 30 nations declared varying levels of support for a war against Iraq as part of the administration's ``coalition of the willing,'' and 15 others gave their backing privately.

- Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called off a possible last-minute peacemaking trip to Iraq, in what appeared to signal the end of Arab efforts to avert a war.

- Troops in the Kuwaiti desert loaded their ammunition and combat gear into fighting vehicles, ready to invade on short notice.

- Airlines around the world began canceling flights to the Middle East as fears of a war in Iraq kept passengers away in droves.

- U.N. weapons inspectors flew out of Iraq, the latest in a steady stream of foreigners to abandon Iraq in recent days. In Baghdad, residents stocked up on food, lined up for gas and taped their windows for fear of flying glass from U.S. bombs.

- Apparently jolted into action by Washington's ultimatum to Saddam, Iraqi Kurds left key cities for mountain villages seen as potential sanctuaries if Iraq retaliates against the Kurd's Western-protected enclave.

- Russian lawmakers postponed indefinitely a vote to ratify a U.S.-Russian nuclear arms treaty, as parliament speaker Gennady Seleznyov warned that a war against Iraq could endanger the pact. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2490190,00.html

[LizardQueen]

I was wondering if you even need a flamethrower for the stuff. I thought that VX degraded and dispersed rapidly once out in the environment (sun, heat, wind).

Unless he's got some sort of extra-thick, extra-sticky "VX Bridge-Kote" how long would it stick around anyway?

LQ

[dep]

and i wonder if he developed some with grit mixed in, to provide traction on those dangerous slippery surfaces?

dep

[Billthedrill]

...how long would it stick around anyway?

Several weeks, by all reports. Pretty nasty stuff - it's one of the "area denial" agents. I found THIS information on it.

[cabin]

I have been hunting for about 22 years,my heart shots last year were between 225-310 yards with my 7 mm mag .I know im not the best ,but it seams someone could take sadam out,given the new guns available,an the yardage away from target?

[Crusader21stCentury]

Perrier

You should be aware that while the water comes from the south of France, the company is owned by Nestle a Swiss Entity.
If that matters to you.

[kinghorse]

"Are there countermeasures for VX on bridges?"

A few B-52's with a load of iron bombs to remove all traces of the contaminated bridge and then go about building a new one.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[LizardQueen]

Thanks for the link, that was interesting.
Sounds like a tanker load full of Chlorox could clean up quite a bit of it.....

LQ

[3D-JOY]

Now that I've printed and reviewed the list I can not believe how many products I have from this list!

Some very good products and I will have a hard time replacing them! But I will do it!!

Can I start with Smith and Wesson wheelgun(?) and Star semiautomatic (Spain I think).

[dep]

i believe we have a little something in heavy-barrel .308 that probably is the reason we won't be seeing saddam outdoors much in the coming days.

dep

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Nestle buys the water from France. That's evil enough for me. No perrier.

[poindexter]

Wow! That's the worst case of trench foot I've ever seen! ;-)

[PokeyJoe]

Are there countermeasures for VX on bridges? Can it be neutralized or do you just have to bypass it....

Yes.

Do not take prisoners of any unit using chem/bio weapons.

[CharacterCounts]

Some very good products and I will have a hard time replacing them! But I will do it!!

It's true that some of these companies are owned by French companies (at least in part) but many produce their products right here in America with American workers.

Boycotting French imports is one thing, but to boycott an American made product simply because it is owned by a French company is the ultimate in biting off ones nose to spite his face.

[ApesForEvolution]

"U.N. weapons inspectors flew out of Iraq, the latest in a steady stream of foreigners to abandon Iraq in recent days."

Why does my gut tell me there were hugs, tears and 'sorry, we tried' goodbyes?

[nomad]

It would of course depend on the application rates, but coating any appreciable amount of lane-miles with a large amount of substance would require MASSIVE quantities, so if they are willing to use their stocks in this fashion I say good. It will be impossible for the creeps to replace this inventory, and we can simply by-pass these contaminated routes. Far better then having our guys hit directly with the toxins in munitions; however, from the stand point of equipment all you would need is any standard highway ice/snow fighting, brine tanker sprayer truck driven by someone in REALLY GOOD protective gear, so I guess it wouldn`t be out of the question, technically speaking.

[ApesForEvolution]

I agree, but let's not forget. We knew most of what they had for over a decade and there is no doubt it was dramatically increased the last 4-5 years with no inspectors. I would imagine that their volumes and further WMD capabilities are far, far larger and greater than anyone knows for certain.

[Crusader21stCentury]

Nestle buys the water from France.

Perrier is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nestle. They merely take the water from the ground and bottle it in France.
If you want to say no to Perrier that is up to you.
But if you want to prevent a single shekel from ending up with the French, you should boycott any goods that transit through France which is a major transit point for goods coming to the US.

[ApesForEvolution]

If any transaction I make actually puts a penny into the French, German, Chinese, Canadian or Russian economies, I won't make it. It's a bit of a chore, but thanks to FReepers, it's easier. And worth every second and every penny...