Posted on 05/17/2004 9:51:38 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Edited on 05/17/2004 9:55:03 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. officials said Monday they are concerned that other sarin-filled munitions may still exist in Iraq - and may not be well-marked - after evidence indicated a roadside shell that exploded contained the nerve agent.
No one was injured in the initial detonation Saturday, although U.S. soldiers who later transported the round did experience symptoms consistent with low-level nerve agent exposure, said a U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity.
In this case, it appears two components in the shell, which are designed to combine and create deadly sarin, did not mix upon detonation, the official said.
It was unclear whether those responsible for the attack knew it was a conventional or chemical round, the official said. The 155-mm shell did not have markings to indicate it contained a chemical agent, the official added.
U.S. officials believe, based on evidence, that the shell was an experimental munition produced before the 1991 Gulf War, called a "binary type," the official said.
Former President Saddam Hussein's government had declared binary sarin testing and production after the 1995 defection of Iraqi weapons chief Lt. Gen. Hussein Kamel al-Majid, Saddam's son-in-law.
But Saddam's government never declared that any sarin or sarin-filled shells still remained.
For that reason, the U.S. government considers the discovery of the sarin shell as significant, the U.S. official said.
"What is of concern is that that there may be more of them out there," the official also said.
Since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, a U.S. group of weapons inspectors, called the Iraq Survey Group, has been searching for weapons of mass destruction, finding only signs of programs - but no evidence - of actual weapons.
The existence of a sarin-filled munition thus could become the first indication that Saddam's regime had not destroyed all banned weapons.
The binary-type shell found Saturday holds chemicals in separate sections for security and storage reasons. The chemicals are then mixed after firing to produce sarin.
At a Baghdad press conference Monday, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief military spokesman in Iraq, said he believed that insurgents who rigged the artillery shell as a bomb did not know that it contained the nerve agent. The dispersal of the nerve agent from such a rigged device is very limited, he said.
Nerve gases inhibit key enzymes in the nervous system, blocking their transmission. In large enough doses, sarin causes convulsions, paralysis, loss of consciousness and potentially fatal respiratory failure. Small exposures can be treated with antidotes, if administered quickly.
An Iraqi 155-mm chemical shell can contain 2 to 5 liters of volume, which could hold a deadly concentration of sarin, if properly mixed and dispersed.
The concentration of sarin involved in Saturday's explosion wasn't clear.
Well I didn't hear much.
They were just finishing.
For maximum effectiveness a chemical projectile would be fused to explode while still in the air to spread the chemicals over as large an area as possible. A conventional round can be fused for an air burst or to explode on contact with the ground.
Artillery projectiles generally have information on them identifying the type of round and weight to assist in determining the proper settings for the fuse and aiming data for the cannon. Without accurate information about the projectile it is difficult to fire the projectile for the desired effect.
You need to look at my profile page. I was on first name terms with the local draft board from my 18th birthday until I left for basic training. The head of the local selective service board (the real name for the draft board) and my mother were NOT good friends and she let if be known that I was #1 on her list. The politics of small towns. Anyway, the draft board probably did me a favor, as 35 years later I am still serving this great nation and have not suffered in the least. You might want to try it on for size.
I volunteered sir. Spent 8 years on active duty, 4 in the reserve. I just don't think taking away my fellow citizens liberty in the defense of liberty is rational. If this country can't get it's citizens to defend it voluntarily, it doesn't deserve to survive.
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