| Moved to Thursday for further discussion. AoS. |
A truck bomb that combined explosives with chlorine gas blew up in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, and officials said it may represent a new and deadly tactic by terrorists insurgents against Iraqi civilians. It was at least the third truck bomb in a month to employ chlorine, a greenish gas also used in World War I, which burns the skin and can be fatal after only a few concentrated breaths. The bomb killed at least two people and injured 32 others, police and medical officials said.
| Remind me: aren't chemical weapons against the Geneva Convention? |
Iraqi and American officials said the use of chlorine seems aimed at bringing a new level of fear and havoc to Iraq as a new security plan for Baghdad takes shape.
| Poison gas is a "weapon of mass destruction," period. Because of the horrific experiences of WWI its use since has been very rare. But Sammy, in company with Chemical Ali and the other Baathists, was one of those extremely rare exceptions. |
Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an American military spokesman, said the attacks highlighted the evolving fluidity of insurgent tactics in Iraq, dominated by militant groups who often notice and mimic attacks that attract the most attention and cause the most suffering. “The enemy is adaptive,” Colonel Garver said. “The enemy wants to win.”
| The enemy could also end up a.) sucking a nuke, or b.) touching off a war with Iran and/or Syria. Doctrine calls for use of WMDs to be responded to using WMDs - though not necessarily the same kind of WMDs. If the training and material support comes from outside Iraq, it could easily (and legitimately) be termed a causus belli. These goobers are playing with fire. |
The bombing involving chlorine gas on Wednesday followed an explosion on Tuesday north of Baghdad of a tanker filled with chlorine that had been rigged to explode, killing nine people and wounding 148, including 42 women and 52 children.
| They're termed "weapons of mass destruction" because they kill people indiscriminately. |
At least one other attack with chlorine also took place on Jan. 28, according to the American militaryÂ’s statements.
| Once is troubling, twice is maybe coincidence. Three times and you're at the top of the kill list. |
Sixteen people were killed in that attack, in the Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, when a dump truck with explosives and a chlorine tank blew up in Ramadi.
So the Sunni terrorists now are using chlorine gas to kill innocents: anyone have any doubts that these same Sunnis would use other weapons of mass killin' if they had the opportunity? Imagine if they got ahold of some of Sammy's old WMD. Imagine if they got ahold of a dirty nuke. Imagine if they got ahold of a NKor bomb. I can imagine it easily, even if John Murtha can't.
This is a point that the Progressive Left and the MSM will ignore, fingers in ears: we've been told that 1) Binny and al-Qaeda can't get weapons of mass destruction, 2) the Iranians will need ten years to get a bomb, and 3) we don't need to worry about a bunch of kooky Muslims in caves, because they couldn't possibly get WMD. That last group just used chlorine gas. Why that? Because it was handy. Wait til Kimmie slips them the bomb. This point has to be pounded, over and over, to the American people: this is who our enemies are, and this is what they'll do if they ever get the chance. |
The attacks seem to have been poorly executed, burning the chemical agent rather than dispersing it, but more sophisticated weapons involving chlorine could injure hundreds and cause mass panic.
| They know what they want to do, they just don't quite know how to do it. They're experimenting, and when they get it figured the mass casualties will come. The best they've been able to do with booms is about 150 dead. A gas attack in a crowded market might net them two or three times that many, maybe even get them into three digits. |
Though it is widely used in water purification and sewage treatment, chlorine is dangerous because it reacts with water in moist tissue, such as eyes and the respiratory tract, to create acid, which essentially burns tissue. A few breaths of air containing chlorine at a thousand parts per million can be lethal.
A few hours after the attack, American Humvees and an American military vehicle with a nozzle that appeared to be testing the air encircled the scene. Soldiers were not wearing masks, but officials at Yarmouk hospital said they determined through interviews and tests that chlorine was the chemical used in the attack.
Brig. Qasim Atta, an Iraqi government spokesman for the new Baghdad security plan, described chlorine attacks as a “filthy way” to target vulnerable Iraqis, especially children.
Colonel Garver said that the chemical attacks could soon appear again. “Its no surprise that anti-Iraqi forces or terrorists or whoever is doing this are trying to replicate this kind of attack,” he said. “They perceive that it’s working.” |