U.S.: Mobile labs found in Iraq

CNN ^

[epluribus_2]

KARBALA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troops have found 11 mobile laboratories buried south of Baghdad that are capable of biological and chemical uses, a U.S. general said Monday.

There were no chemical or biological weapons with the containerized labs, which measure 20 feet square. But soldiers recovered "about 1,000 pounds" of documents from inside the labs, and the United States will examine those papers further, said Brig. Gen. Benjamin Freakly of the Army's 101st Airborne Division.

"Initial reports indicate that this is clearly a case of denial and deception on the part of the Iraqi government," Freakly told CNN's Ryan Chilcote. "These chemical labs are present, and now we just have to determine what in fact they were really being used for."

[epluribus_2]

...Powell said the evidence included firsthand accounts from four sources -- among them, an Iraqi chemical engineer who supervised one of the facilities and an Iraqi civil engineer "in a position to know the details of the program."

Powell to DeVillPain/Blix: "Will you please SHUT THE HELL UP, NOW?"

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[theDentist]

We should drive one onto Hans' front lawn.

[epluribus_2]

(more posturbation) "The trucks and train cars are easily moved and are designed to evade detection by inspectors," Powell said. "In a matter of months, they can produce a quantity of biological poison equal to the entire amount that Iraq claimed to have produced in the years prior to the Gulf War."

Was this the Iraqi madman's strategery? Destroy all weapons but keep the means to develop them hidden well to quickly rearm as soon as the UN inspectors "completed their work" and humiliated the US and UK? Then place calls to Al-Qaeda, et al to come get the goodies for a practically untraceable connection to the terror war on the West?

[OldFriend]

Consider the source

[ladtx]

20 feet square is different from 20 sq ft.

20 feet square is 20 x 20 x 20.

[choicenotecho]

Interesting that CNN seemed to be leading the pack with WMD stories since the confession in the NYT on Friday. They're sort of like former smokers relenting endlessly for their former addiction.

[Blood of Tyrants]

20 feet square is 20 X 20 or 400 square feet.

20 sqare feet is 4' X 5'.

But 20 feet square doesn't sound right either since moving an object 20' X 20' is not nearly as easy as moving a 10' X 40' object.

[epluribus_2]

I'm getting a gnawing feeling about my last comment. If Iraq really destroy it's old stocks (maybe they were too old) but kept all the production capabilities as dual use items, then they could have it both ways - the axis of weasels will charge that Iraq was truthful (WE HAVE NO WMD!) and that quibbling about the trucks/labs/pesticide mixers is US/UK covering their Blixes. The leftwards leaning will buy it all, Bush will still his same supporters and the world and the US would end up politically where we started. Oh yeah, and "US allowed Saddam to Escape" echoing "US missed OBL" repeated until it is an urban legend that Saddam is alive they way Osama lives in the hearts of those opposed to Bush. Not to mention Osamaphonic tapes now from Saddam exhorting Arab street to continue war with US/UK/Joos.

[Dan(9698)]

>>>...Is this correct? That's a tiny area (say 5 feet by 4 feet).

Twenty feet square, not twenty square feet.

The order of words is important.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[b4its2late]

The left will say those evil "SUV" labs buried themselves....

[Mitchell]

20 feet square is 400 square feet, which I think is about the size of a tractor-trailer (about 8 ft by about 50 ft). This sounds about right for a mobile lab.

[tje]

well, they could be two 10X20 foot trailers bolted together.. A la doublewides...

[Nick Danger]

[Eala]

LOL, you overshot a bit: 20 feet square is 20 x 20 x 20.

[TankerKC]

20 feet square = 400 square feet

in other words, a square with 20 feet on each side

Ask Dr. Math: 2 Square Feet vs. 2 Feet Square

[Cap Huff]

I certainly can't think of too many perfectly innocent reasons for burying eleven containers, regardless of the actual dimensions, along with about a thousand pounds of documents. From my old military supply experience I can say that I've heard plenty of buried property stories, none of them completely innocent.

By the way, I think by now someone knows the general nature of the documents recovered. It wouldn't take a good translator too long to skim through and have some idea whether these are surplus phone books, old duty rosters, or chem weapon tech manuals. I think CENTCOM and DoD will be very tight lipped about this one.