Posted on 03/30/2003 2:01:14 PM PST by Dog
A stash of Iraqi training equipment for nuclear, biological and chemical warfare was discovered by British troops today, including a Geiger counter, nerve gas simulators, gas masks and protective suits.
One of the chemicals found in the cache was marked ominously both in Russian and English with the name Sarin, a dangerous nerve gas which Saddam Hussein is suspected to have in his arsenal.
The chemical appeared not to be a sample of Sarin but some sort of simulator used to test if Sarin was in the atmosphere. Nevertheless it was marked “dangerous to humans if exposed for ten minutes without a respirator”.
The discovery was made in an Iraqi ordnance facility south of Basra in territory now controlled by coalition forces.
Although it did not provide the “smoking gun” to support Allied claims that Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction, it nevertheless represented a propaganda coup for Britain and America.
It showed that nuclear, biological and chemical weapons training was at least available to Iraqi forces.
“Until further tests are carried out on the vials of chemicals we have found here we do not know exactly what the material is,” Captain Kevin Cooney of the Joint NBC Regiment said.
“To my eye it looks like training equipment to teach people how to identify if there is something like Sarin in the air and what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.
“Further tests will have to be done and this is now a matter that has been passed up the chain of command for further consideration.”
The equipment included relatively modern “Combo Pens”, devices carried by troops who anticipate possible attack by nerve agents and which deliver a small but concentrated dose of antidote if punched against the thigh.
There were vials of atropine, the antidote for nerve gas attack using by British and American forces. There were 13 large wooden cases, some marked “Ministry of Defence, Baghdad”, containing gas masks, plastic suits and other materiel.
Perhaps the most worrying thing were two packets of thin, glass vials, each containing some coloured crystals, apparently with instructions on how to use them for detection of nerve agents, including “Sarin, Soman and V-Gases”.
The directions indicated how the vials could be broken and the vapour in some way pumped into a small hand pump which was then filled with the atmosphere that was to be tested.
A certain colour change in the chemical appeared to the indicator of the presence of Sarin, one of the most sinister and dangerous nerve agents, believed by western intelligence agencies to be in Saddam’s arsenal.
There were also relatively modern posters on the walls of the room, with Arabic inscriptions, depicting what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.
The building in which the material was found was located in what appeared to be a military training establishment with examples of how to build trench systems and bunkers, and how to string out razor wire defences.
This was a pooled report for the British media. The reporter is from The Daily Telegraph.
Admin Moderator move this if you feel it doesn't need to be placed in breaking news..
Thanks to Diogenesis for posting this and pinging me.
I could live the rest of my life and never hear that stupid phrase again.
If they found the gas itself, sarin, it wouldn't matter to people who don't want to back this war, or most especially, this President. We already know that "no matter what" War is not the "answer" according to Chirac & Putin. I'm surprised none of the documents found were written in French. Especially the nuclear material.
Well, that's the bottom line.
Just a little psychological terror. :-}
"Although it did not provide the “smoking gun” to support Allied claims that Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction, it nevertheless represented a propaganda coup for Britain and America."
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Propaganda!?!?!?
Idiots!!
FRegards,
There's still time for inspectors to be effective...
(A sight take off from the "He's dead, Jim!)
;-)
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