ISIS Reportedly Captured Saddam’s Chemical Weapons Stockpiles, Attacks Key Refinery

PJ Tatler ^ | June 19, 2014 | Bryan Preston

[2ndDivisionVet]

Well, here’s some lovely news emerging from the new Iraq.

17.09 Chemical weapons produced at the Al Muthanna facility, which Isis today seized, are believed to have included mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun, and VX.

Here is the CIA’s file on the complex.

QuoteStockpiles of chemical munitions are still stored there. The most dangerous ones have been declared to the UN and are sealed in bunkers.

Although declared, the bunkers contents have yet to be confirmed.

These areas of the compound pose a hazard to civilians and potential blackmarketers.

Numerous bunkers, including eleven cruciform shaped bunkers were exploited. Some of the bunkers were empty. Some of the bunkers contained large quantitiesof unfilled chemical munitions, conventional munitions, one-ton shipping containers, old disabled production equipment (presumed disabled under UNSCOM supervision), and other hazardous industrial chemicals.

17.05 The Chemical Weapons Convention, which Iraq joined in 2009, requires it to dispose of the material at Al Muthanna, even though it was declared unusable and “does not pose a significant security risk”

However, the UK goverment has acknowledgeded that the nature of the material contained in the two bunkers would make the destruction process difficult and technically challenging.

I’m sure the terrorists can find some diabolical use, even for “unusable” chemical weapons.

ISIS also reportedly is flying its flag over a key Iraqi oil refinery.

President Obama delivered a bloodless statement on the situation today. He declared that the US would not be sending any troops into combat, but would send 300 “advisers” to help train the Iraqi army.

The US military spent a decade training the Iraqi military, with far more than 300 advisers. The training doesn’t seem to have stuck.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Tell yourself that as one goes off in your neighborhood.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

But how can they deliever them? On a truck? They have no helecopters or big cannons—wait didn’t they capture some???

[ROCKLOBSTER]

...we see what has happened in Syria

Oh, you mean with the rest of his stockpile that he moved to Syria?

[hoosiermama]

Those weapons that the liberals say don’t exist? Wonder when they’ll bring them to NYC or D C

[Logical me]

I thought that chemical weapons are weapons of mass destruction. You have to ask those that constantly put the pitch that Saddam had no such weapons. How ignorant were millions of Americans that forgot he used deadly gas on thousands of his own people. Actually it was discovered that he was receiving construction materials that usually goes into nuclear plants. We must assume that the MSM kept this out of the news. Most of American MSM are communists organizations that want to destroy America. Doing a good job.

[Popman]

This must be part of a CIA Ops to discredit all the dems ....

What else could be ?

Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and all the other democrats who were screaming Bush lied....would never lie to us....would they?

[NormsRevenge]

And who knows where else.

Hans BliX AND THE UN got snookered.. imho

[Logical me]

And if they captured them, where were they for 10 years that the US military could not find them?

We found them and our military stored them in sealed bunkers and we watched over them until King Obama removed all our military. You can thank your dictator ars hole.

[Political Junkie Too]

the stockpiles that never existed ??? now how on Earth did they do that ???

Remember...

They're not *exactly* stockpiles if they're not neatly organized into concentric stacks one over the other into nice pyramid-like piles.

So haphazardly placed 55-gallon drums strewn all over the rooms don't count.

-PJ

[Ghost of SVR4]

The VX thing scares me quite a bit. It is some seriously nasty stuff in small quantities and with our southern border WIDE open? Entire malls of shoppers could be brought down with the use of ventilation systems and this crap.

[Viennacon]

And why does the fact that it might be ‘out of date’ not really quell my worries. I’m guessing its still pretty deadly.

[munin]

So if the US military knew about the bunkers and their contents how come they did not destroy it when they had the opportunity? or did they not find it

[21twelve]

“...that it might be ‘out of date’ not really quell my worries.”

Might even make it WORSE! (Like that cottage cheese container in the back of my fridge.)

[Ghost of SVR4]

Oh, I agree. I know the stuff evaporates like motor oil (i.e., not fast), but a camping stove heating that crap up next to an air inlet or re-circulation vent? My God.
It being order-less and tasteless, imagine a gallon of this crap being cooked off out the back of a U-Haul as it drives upwind in New York city.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Many of the Sunni Iraqis joining ISIS are Saddam loyalists. They’d know where these things are.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Hans Blix

Is that bastard still alive? If so, he should "do the right thing"

Otherwise, he's got some serious 'splainin' to do.

[JamesA]

Waiting for Israel to vaporize the whole lot of them.

[Viennacon]

With Obama at the wheel no doubt

[hal ogen]

...it all depends on what the meaning of “weapons of mass destruction is”.

[sauropod]

Thanks for posting this. I was just arguing with someone today over the no WMDs in Iraq canard....