[KarlInOhio]

Kind of like the gas chamber?

Gas chambers usually use hydrogen cyanide, which screws up the ability of cells to metabolize. Phosgene causes physical damage to the lungs so the victim suffocates.

(I'm probably going to end up on some Homeland Security list for this. My knowlege comes from reading a long article on chemical warfare in a wargaming magazine plus quick use of the web. Honest.)

[poobear]

“My knowlege comes from reading a long article on chemical warfare in a wargaming magazine plus quick use of the web. Honest.”

Riiight... ;D!

[Gondring]

And I notice that they have fixed the story now (though the URL remained the same, with "nerve gas" in it:

United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous chemical warfare agent, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York, federal authorities tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

I don't know which is worse...the MSM jumping to conclusions or the FReepers who kneejerk that the presence of this material is a major horror (and believe that it's not reasonable to have small quantities of hazardous materials for analytical and calibration purposes).