Posted on 09/22/2014 8:20:22 AM PDT by GonzoII
The “Red Line” crossed over again and the paper tiger using words of “accountability” again, sorry LOL!!!
The account I read last week (which was admittedly short on details) was that ISIS was attempting to fill a shell with chlorine gas when it detonated. My interpretation was that the shell was an empty gas shell.
There were numerous reports immediately after the 2003 invasion of stockpiles of deteriorating chemical weapons being discovered throughout Iraq. A lot of effort was expended during 2004-2011 in locating and destroying these weapons. I suspect there might be stocks of empty gas shells that were either missed or exempted from destruction for reasons of practicality (too many of them).
Another reason to think this was a release of bottled gas is that there is no mention of other shelling. If, as you seem to suggest, ISIS can deliver gas by artillery (which requires specialized equipment, crews, and training), why wouldn’t they just pound the Iraqi Army positions with conventional artillery fire?
If I could have contacted them they would have been saved...Naaaahhh
Chlorine gas cylinders in municipal water use are in the process of going the way of the dinosaurs because they are extremely hazardous.
They are being replaced by liquid chlorine generators either using calcium chloride tablets (water soluble solution ) sodium hypochlorite ( rock salt and electricity). The resulting chlorine product is so weak that it won’t even bleach your clothes.
Warning?
Why?
ISIS now into chemical warfare — I wonder how they justify it as being “7th Century?” (sarc)
Entertainment
When its installed in an artillery shell I would classify it as a WMD. Obviously it has other uses.
As soon as they have Sarin, the number of murders will escalate dramatically.
My husband, a chemical engineer, just explained to me a few days ago, how Chlorine Gas can kill. And at the very least it can give you a bad case of chemical pneumonia....
I was discussing a terrible wreck that happened in Houston several decades ago. An ammonia truck overturned and people closest to it breathed the fumes and died. For others, farther away, it ws terrible sickness, and for some a slow death.
My friend who is a chemical engineer, said, “Too much of ANYTHING in the lungs can kill you, even water” So just about anything can be WMD if it fills your lungs!
Hmmmm. Same thing “they” claimed Assad used against rebels/civilians.
Seems to me that the Islamic State is behind all these chlorine gas attacks.
Ammonia can be very deadly too. I remember this event as if it were yesterday. (and now there are 18 wheeler wrecks daily in Houston) any thing can be a bomb, any chemical can be WMD....
http://www3.gendisasters.com/texas/18813/houston-tx-ammonia-truck-explosion-may-1976
Leonard Pitts Jr article from a couple of weeks ago, blaming EVERYTHING in the Middle East on GW Bush!
The problems in the M.E. go back thousands of years!
The big push to jump to the alternative chlorine solutions came about from 9/11 emergency management planning to prevent terrorist strikes on these facilities. As a bonus to communities it also lowers your insurance risk and premiums.
(ISIS now into chemical warfare — I wonder how they justify it as being “7th Century?”)
It’s been around a long time. In “The Search For The Holy Grail” the enemy “farted in your general direction”.
A lot of the military leadership of the IS are former Iraqi Baathist military.
The Iraqi military under the Baath were pretty world class when it came to chemical weapons - they have a lot of skills working with them.
During the Iran/Iraq War, and after the Gulf War (during the Anfal Campaign against the Kurds), they made extensive and almost routine use of chemical agents. They maintained large stockpiles and industrial base to manufacture domestically. So there are lots of guys with excellent skill levels in producing, handling and using chemical weapons available to IS - some of the best in the world actually.
Not only do they likely have the skills, they have also captured the largest remaining chemical weapons stockpile in Iraq at al Muthana, and could have access to assets hidden by the Baathists to support their planned return to power. Remember how extensively they had prepared for a guerilla war to recapture power after an American invasion, with the formation of the Fedayeen Saddam? Well they cached a lot of weaponry and money as well.
The former Baathist leadership was right out front with ISIS early on (Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri and the Naqshbandi Army), while they are not mentioned much in the news any more, they are still there to support or train chemical operations - probably enough to support large scale operations. This may just be the early trials.
The Baathists might save their main chemical punch for a coup-like decapitation strike, to seize power for themselves, as they have long planned.
No, that’s only if a Republican is President.
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