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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraqiâs obsessed with keeping their ammo dumps insect-free |
| 2004-04-07 |
| Heavily EFL: Bush Lied...bugs died One of the reported incidents occurred near Karbala where there appeared to be a very large âagricultural supplyâ area of 55-gallon drums of pesticide. In addition, there was also a camouflaged bunker complex full of these drums that some people entered with unpleasant results. More than a dozen soldiers, a Knight-Ridder reporter, a CNN cameraman, and two Iraqi POWs came down with symptoms consistent with exposure to nerve agent. A full day of tests on the drums resulted in one positive for nerve agent, and then one resulted in a negative. Later, an Army Fox NBC [nuclear, biological, chemical] Recon Vehicle confirmed the existence of Sarin. An officer from the 63d Chemical Company thought there might well be chemical weapons at the site. But later ISG tests resulted in a proclamation of negative, end of story, nothing to see here, etc., and the earlier findings and injuries dissolved into non-existence. Left unexplained is the small matter of the obvious pains taken to disguise the cache of ostensibly legitimate pesticides. One wonders about the advantage an agricultural commodities business gains by securing drums of pesticide in camouflaged bunkers six feet underground. The âagricultural siteâ was also co-located with a military ammunition dump, evidently nothing more than a coincidence in the eyes of the ISG. Another find occurred around the northern Iraqi town of Baiâji, where elements of the 4th Infantry Division (Mech) discovered 55-gallon drums of a substance that mass spectrometer testing confirmed was cyclosarin and an unspecified blister agent. A mobile laboratory was also found nearby that could have been used to mix chemicals at the site. And only yards away, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, as well as gas masks were found. Of course, later tests by the experts revealed that these were only the ubiquitous pesticides that everybody was turning up. It seems that Iraqi soldiers were obsessed with keeping their ammo dumps insect-free, according to the reading of the evidence now enshrined by the conventional wisdom that âno WMD stockpiles have been discovered.â Coalition forces continued to find evidence of CW after major combat operations had concluded. The US unit around Taji, just north of Baghdad discovered pesticides in one of the largest ammo dumps in Iraq. The unit wanted to use the ammo dump for their own operations, when they discovered the pesticides in ânon-standardâ drums that were smaller in diameter but much longer than the standard 55-gallon drums. Then in January of this year, Danish forces discovered 120mm mortar shells with a mysterious liquid inside that initially tested positive for blister agents. Further tests in Southern Iraq and in the US were, of course, negative. The Danish Army said, âIt is unclear why the initial field tests were wrong.â This is the understatement of the year, and also points to a most basic question: If it wasnât a chemical agent, what was it? More pesticides? Dishwashing detergent? From this old soldierâs perspective, I gain nothing from putting a liquid in my mortar rounds unless that stuff will do bad things to the enemy. Virtually all agencies concerned with Iraqâs WMD programs have reached the conclusion that Saddam was an expert at delay, dispersion, and deception. His nuclear program had restarted as reported earlier this year by Dr. Kay, the previous head of the ISG. Also, âseed agentsâ and other bio-toxins had been dispersed throughout Baghdad and Iraq to form the basis for the regeneration of a full-fledged BW program. This modus operandi was no different for the regeneration of Saddamâs chemical weapons program. Operating under the guise of legitimate industrial and agricultural chemical production and storage, Iraq would have gone into full-scale conversion of its stockpile of chemical precursors into weaponized agents, had the Coalition not attacked and seized Iraq. What is stunning is that the ISG seems incapable of connecting the dots to present to the American people the clear evidence of Saddamâs flouting of 12 years of UN resolutions, and the grave consequences if we had failed to act. The ISG also owes a detailed explanation to DoD as to how 12 years of research, development, and money has apparently gone down the drain in the effort to upgrade the militaryâs chemical detection capability and NBC training regimen. That the ISG can consistently contradict other technical specialists, while ignoring years of UNSCOM and US intelligence assessments, without accountability is unconscionable, and must be rectified as soon as possible |
| Posted by:B |
| #2 Bogus sarin? I would be shocked. Shocked! I wonder if it was the same helpful salesman who hooked them up with the GPS Jammer. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-04-07 6:07:53 PM |
| #1 If I were an underling trying to fool Sadaam that I had produced nerve agent, I would use a substance that produced the same symptoms. Another possibility - Russia sold Sadaam bogus Sarin. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-04-07 3:08:15 PM |