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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | ||
| Daesh determined to produce chemical weapons | ||
| 2015-11-20 | ||
| Daesh is aggressively pursuing development of chemical weapons, setting up a branch dedicated to research and experiments with the help of scientists from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the region, according to Iraqi and U.S. intelligence officials. Their quest raises an alarming scenario for the West, given the determination to strike major cities that the group showed with its bloody attack last week in Paris. On Thursday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned that extremists might at some point use chemical or biological weapons. "Terrorism hit France not because of what it is doing in Iraq and Syria ... but for what it is," Valls told the lower house of Parliament. "We know that there could also be a risk of chemical or biological weapons," he added, though he did not talk of a specific threat. U.S. intelligence officials don't believe Daesh has the capability to develop sophisticated weapons like nerve gas that are most suited for a terrorist attack on a civilian target. So far the group has used mustard gas on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria.
"They now have complete freedom to select locations for their labs and production sites and have a wide range of experts, both civilians and military, to aid them," a senior Iraqi intelligence official told The Associated Press. So far, the only overt sign of the group's chemical weapons program has been the apparent use of mustard gas against Iraqi Kurdish fighters and in Syria. In mortars that hit Kurdish forces in northern Iraq earlier this year, preliminary tests by the U.S. showed traces of the chemical agent sulfur mustard. Iraqi authorities clearly fear the use could be expanded. Over the summer, Iraq's military distributed gas masks to troops deployed west and north of Baghdad, one general told the AP. A senior officer in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, said 25 percent of the troops deployed there were equipped with masks. More recently, Iraq's military received from Russia 1,000 protective suits against chemical attacks, said Hakim Al Zamili, the head of the Iraqi parliament's security and defense committee. Daesh has set up a branch tasked with pursuing chemical weapons, according to a senior Iraqi military intelligence officer and two officials from another Iraqi intelligence agency. Al Zamili, citing intelligence reports he has access to, told the AP that the group has managed to attract chemical experts from abroad as well as Iraqi experts, including ones who once worked for Saddam Hussein's now-dissolved Military Industrialization Authority. The foreigners include experts from Chechnya and southeast Asia, the Iraqi intelligence officials said.
"Daesh is working very seriously to reach production of chemical weapons, particularly nerve gas," Al Zamili said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. "That would threaten not just Iraq but the whole world." | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 If you are curious as to how, I'd recommend using a VPN. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2015-11-20 22:19 |
| #2 Back in '95, a bunch of Japanese whackjobs killed a dozen people and injured thousands with a half-assed Sarin attack in the subways. Terrorism is as much about promoting the brand as it is killing people. You could get your name in the news with something as simple as releasing some chlorine in a crowded place. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2015-11-20 21:41 |
| #1 Chemical weapons are not that hard and there is almost no controls on acquiring precursors. As for a reliable delivery system. A backpack would work just fine. I'd avoid any underground railways. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2015-11-20 16:22 |