Posted on 10/26/2004 2:37:17 PM PDT by mrsmith
Missile Facilities
Al Qa-Qa State Establishment
Other Names: Latifiyah Double Base Propellant Plant; Latifiyah SSM Equipment Production Facility, Al Qa-Qa Establishment Salah Al-Din Plant; Salah Al-Din Powder Factory, Khaled Plant, Al Qa-Qa Ammo and Explosives Plant
Location: Baghdad, Latifiyah, approximately 60km south of Baghdad
Subordinate to: Military Industrialization Commission Primary Function: Production of double-base propellants, nitric acid, explosives.
Description:
Al Qa-Qa State Establishment was a huge facility located in Latifiyah, adjacent to the Rashid Establishment, Ma'moun Factory. The site contained five main production sub-areas, including those for double-base propellants, explosives, and nitric acids as well as smaller facilities for warhead filling, isomer separation, engine static testing, storage, etc. The agreement to build the nitric acid plant was reached with a Yugoslav firm in 1974 but much of the equipment was bought from Germany. The facility was completed in 1981, just in time to meet rising explosive requirements (warheads, bombs, etc.) during the Iran-Iraq War...
(Excerpt) Read more at nti.org ...
The site was well searched because people had symptoms of nerve agent exposure there in April 2003.
There were a bunch of stories about it.
Beat me!!! Gaahhhhhh!
Hey, I like big butts!
LOL. I knew some salivating FReeper would post a pic of Queen Latifah.
...U.S. troops also found thousands of boxes of an unspecified white powder substance, small vials of unidentified liquids, atropine nerve agent antidote autoinjectors, and an array of Arabic documents detailing how to engage in chemical warfare at the Latifiyah industrial complex 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of the Iraqi capital and east of the Euphrates River, he said. This site, part of a larger complex known as the Latifiyah Explosives and Ammunition Plant, was already identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a suspected NBC weapons site, and had been inspected a number of times."
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2003/iraq-030404-usia11.htm
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2004/onpoint/ch-4.htm
"US combat actions also could lead to a chemical threat. For example, south of Objective RAIDERS on 28 March, JSTARS identified 10 Iraqi tankers heading south from Baghdad. The Latifiyah Phosgene and solid propellant production facility was their suspected point of origin. The contents of the tankers were unconfirmed, but intelligence believed that they might be filled with Phosgene, a dual-purpose industrial product and confirmed chemical weapon (choking agent). The Air Force attacked and destroyed the tankers approximately 10 km north of Objective RAIDERS, where 1st BCT, 3rd ID was located. The brigade assumed full chemical protective posture due to the potential downwind hazard. Since the unit's organic chemical defense equipment could not detect Phosgene, the brigade had to wait for the chemical reconnaissance platoon of the 3rd ID's chemical company to arrive and complete its specialized tests before receiving the "all clear."55
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Dang it.
Thanks alot!
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