Cyanide Salt Block Found in Iraq

Fox News ^ | Tuesday, February 03, 2004 | Fox News

[grimalkin]

WASHINGTON

[kinghorse]

And he treated his people like crap and and on and on. Put him in the middle of Africa and we couldn't care less if he exterminated an entire tribe. But he was in too strategic a place in the world to not be acting on his best behavior. He screwed up and didn't play ball. Stupid is as stupid does.

[kayak]

Personally I hope Saddam is swinging from a lamp post long before November 1.

[Axenolith]

Exposed to acid it will evolve Hydrogen Cyanide gas. LD50 for rats is 15mg/kg it could theoretically evolve enough gas to kill ~1400 people. #'s - 7 pounds =3,175,147 mg, mass used = 75 kg.

It would probably kill far less, unless you had a crowd in a confined area with poor ventilation...

[Eternal_Bear]

Was cyanide ever listed as a WMD? I have never heard of it being used in such a way.

[txrangerette]

Poisons was one category of terror
weapon we claimed Iraq & Al-Qaeda
possessed. Ricin was one; anybody
know if Cyanide was?

[hchutch]

Looks like a definite location of precursors.

Why was Saddam keeping the infrastructure and expertise to manufacture WMDs on short notice? There's a chance he might have a good explanation for this, and that all this fuss over the past two years has been a misunderstanding. However, I think People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is more likely to serve veal parmesan at their next awards banquet than there is of Saddam having a good explanation for all of this.

[js1138]

It would probably kill far less, unless you had a crowd in a confined area with poor ventilation...

And as we have seen with the Russian theater hostage situation, that never happens. It is ridiculous to think that people in a crowded indoor stadium might panic and block the exits, most of which are chained anyway to prevent people from sneaking in.

[BushisTheMan]

Kerry lied. Kerry misled us.

[McGavin999]

Nothing less then a fully loaded missle with an active Nuclear warhead pointed at Isreal would shut down the news media about our failure to find MASSIVE amounts of WMD.

Pointed at Israel wouldn't be enough either. It would have to be pointed at the Mecca of uberliberal NYC before they would even acknowledge it. It would have to have the programed coordiantes of the CNN headquarters before it would appear on CNN.

[kinghorse]

I read this somewhere. Has merit.

Seven-pound block of cyanide salt found in Iraq. Explains the lack of whitetail deer in the region.

[talleyman]

"This is not possible because we were all wrong and there are no WMD's or terrorists in Iraq." - ABCBSNPRPBSCNNMSNBCNYTLATAPREUTERS

[hallbrain]

Why isn't this all over the news? I only found it at FOX. no Drudge, no CNN, no CBS, no USAToday. Is it real?

[RockyMtnMan]

Cyanide has many industrial uses and in this case doesn't appear to be weaponized. The presence of a cyanide block in a non-industrial complex does presume that it would be used in a very atypical fashion from it's original purpose.

[Mr. Jeeves]

So finding this cyanide, and the ricin program, don't count for exactly what reason??

Because to the media and the Democrats, WMD seems to be shorthand for "functioning nuclear warheads". Unless we find them - in silos, ready to launch, and aimed at Tel Aviv or London, the game of "well, that doesn't really count" will continue.

[cinFLA]

(The real terroists?)

AGR's sodium cyanide plant
Australian Gold Reagents (AGR) manufactures sodium cyanide at Kwinana in Western Australia with a production capacity of about 65 000 tonnes of liquid sodium cyanide (on a dry weight basis, equivalent to about 200 000 tonnes wet). Sodium cyanide is supplied in liquid solution (30 per cent solid). The raw material ammonia is supplied by Wesfarmers and caustic soda by Nufarm-Coogee. Though more than twice the bulk of the dry form and hence more expensive to distribute, it is generally more competitive by avoiding additional equipment and drying costs. Liquid cyanide was considered by the West Australian Environmental Protection Authority to be more hazardous to transport and until 1996 in Western Australia it was required to be moved by rail. Without railway access, some locations were for a time compelled to use the imported dry form of cyanide.

In 1998 a A$30m expansion doubled production to 70 000 tonnes per year by plant duplication.

In September 2001, the EPA approved production of 25 000 tpa of the solid form

[Diddle E. Squat]

Mmm. . . saltlick. . .

[FairOpinion]

"Cyanide salts are used in hundreds of manufacturing processes."

==

Then why was it hidden in a "safe house", hmmm???

[Imal]

Another component of Iraq's infamous "Poisonous Sheep" program.

We're fortunate that thousands of these Sheep of Death weren't released in downtown New York City.

[redhead]

"Personally I hope Saddam is swinging from a lamp post long before November 1."

Too kind.

I hope he's wrapped up in a sheet and buried up to his knees on the stoning grounds. Then I hope everybody in Iraq is given two fist-sized stones to throw at his head as they file past at a distance of about 10 feet.

[cake_crumb]

Let's dissolve it in the UN building to see if it constitutes a WMD.