Belgium Finds Nerve Gas Ingredient in Letters

Reuters ^ | 06-04-03

[aristeides]

More info here: Iraq man held for toxic letters, including the following:

According to one newspaper there was a short letter written in English inside the envelope sent to Ostend airport. The word "bastards" was written on it in capital letters and it was signed "The Islamic Community." Another letter bore the signature of "The International Islamic Society."

[archy]

New info on the Belgian letters. A poison now id'd as "adamsite." see babelfished post above.

Not exactly a poison, Adamsite is used as a riot control agent, as a *super tear gas* and vomit-inducing agent that causes the victim to begin uncontrollable projectile vomiting. While it can be lethal in large enough quantities, as in enclosed rooms, when the target begins throwing up pieces of small intestine and blood, it's real value is in forcing the removal of protective gas masks, and so is commonly mixed with other agents, particularly tear gas. Chemically known as diphenylaminochloroarsine, it's blessedly known as agent DM in US use, most usually packaged as the M6 or M6A1 CN-DM riot control hand grenade.

-archy-/-

[Dog]

Anyone ever heard of adamsite?

[Dog]

How hard is it to get your hands on adamsite in this form??

[Dog Gone]

Never heard of it before. Nasty stuff.

[archy]

How hard is it to get your hands on adamsite in this form??

It's common enough that the Emergency Response Guide carries it as one of the standard shipments requiring special handling or evacuation procedures during transportation accidents. see following.

The military M6 *beer can* CN-DM grenades are not serial numbered and are as obtainable as any other military ammunition; if a little less common than the similar and more usually emlployed M7A3 CS grenade.

[Dog]

Here it is..Adamsite

[FairOpinion]

These are all excellent "questions", and great finds.

One of the ones I think is really good is this one, because the Greendale address has been cited as a "major evidence" against Hatfill, ignoring that there are lots of things named Greendale everywhere, and most importantly what you found:

"9]DID HIJACKER AHMED, THE FELLOW WITH THE BLACKENED
LESION, ATTEND THE MOSQUE AT GREENDALE PARK IN
FT.LAUDERDALE? [SEE RETURN ADDRESS]" .

I think you should post your list of "questions" separately, I think you could put it in News/Extended News, "Solving the Anthrax Puzzle" (?), because there have been fairly recent articles bringing up the Hatfill thing, and more people would see it.

[aristeides]

Walter Pincus of the Washington Post is appearing on C-SPAN this morning, and was talking about the WMD's not being found in Iraq. A caller called in and berated the Washington Post for not printing anything about the letters in Belgium. Incredibly, Pincus claimed this was the first he had heard of that story.

[piasa]

Iraqi man detained