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| Iraq |
| Preliminary Tests Show Chemical Weapons at Iraqi Site |
| 2003-04-07 |
| Pentagon sources said a prisoner of war led U.S. forces to a specific site near Karbala, near a camp described as a military facility, and that preliminary field tests on substances found at the site suggest they contain several banned chemical weapons, including deadly nerve agents. The ones they don't have Maj. Michael Hamlet of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division said the nerve agents sarin and tabun and the blister agent lewisite appeared to be present at the site, Reuters reported. FOLLOWUP: From AFP... A military intelligence officer for the US 101st Airborne Division's aviation brigade, Captain Adam Mastrianni, told AFP that comprehensive tests determined the presence of the pesticide compounds. Initial tests had reportedly detected traces of sarin — a powerful toxin that quickly affects the nervous system — after US soldiers guarding the facility near Hindiyah, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Baghdad, fell ill. Mastrianni said: "They thought it was a nerve agent. That's what it tested. But it is pesticide." He said a "theatre-level chemical testing team" made up of biologists and chemists had finally disproved the preliminary field tests results and established that pesticide was the substance involved. Mastrianni added that sick soldiers, who had become nauseous, dizzy and developed skin blotches, had all recovered. |
| Posted by:Sonic |
| #4 Some are saying the nerve agent is pesticide, which is similar enough to fool field testing. OTOH I dont know why you would store mustard gas together with ag. pesticide. OTOH there have been so many sites reported, and so many retractions, its getting hard to sort through whats where. Short of someone putting up a website to clarify the different sites and whats been said (and when) about each, I'll wait for Rummy to make a claim. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-07 15:38:48 |
| #3 Here's a source, with photo. What happened next is a little unclear but several soldiers became ill, and the company quickly put on their chemical protection gear. Last night, the chemical unit told military superiors that they had identified the problem as CN, a riot control gas that causes vomiting and blisters. Colonel Madere said he did not believe that soldiers were seriously ill. He said that the chemical team stayed overnight to check several other large containers. This morning, the team tested a 20-gallon container, and concluded that it tested positive for sarin, a nerve gas, as well as tabun, another nerve gas. Tests on the contents of a 55-gallon barrel came up positive for mustard gas. Though the early tests are being called "inconclusive." I wish we'd stop hearing these reports until we've got rock-solid proof. |
| Posted by: growler 2003-04-07 15:13:24 |
| #2 Got a source for that? |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-04-07 15:05:47 |
| #1 The barrels have the name of the French pharmaceutical company Rhone Poulenc stenciled on them. |
| Posted by: elbud 2003-04-07 14:37:17 |