Someone who knows about Sarin gas, tell me what this quantity means?
I think I've read that Sarin isn't as lethal in an open air situation, but I must admit I'm really ignorant of the "specifics" on the gas.
If this had exploded and released it's full content, what casualty number could it caused?
Sarin is not a gas, its an oily, yellow/brown liquid with roughly the consistency of baby oil. I would have thought that a gallon of sarin would be an enormous risk/find. Perhaps this stuff was incinerated in the explosion or perhaps there was some other reason it could not effectively disperse.
I think I've read that Sarin isn't as lethal in an open air situation, but I must admit I'm really ignorant of the "specifics" on the gas.
That amount is a lot, but you are right, not for a large open area. Sarin is very lethal if you come into direct contact with it (dripped on skin, inhaled in concentration), but it can also cause short and long term nerve damage if inhaled in less concentration.
If these shells were to be used doctrinally, the Sarin containing rounds would be interspersed with HE rounds when the observer called fire for effect.
One shell would cause very little damage outside the immediate area (less than 50m plus or minus counting wind) but used in the doctrinal fashion the presence of the chemical would not be apparent to an unprotected enemy until a chemical alarm sounded or soldiers were observed suffering effects.
Sarin, being a non-persistent agent, could not be used effectively to contaminate an area for the purpose of blocking movement, although if chemical alarms sounded a prudent force would assume protective posture immediately and determine the type of agent before proceeding thus enabling the possibility for it to be used for the purpose of slowing down your enemy even if not fired directly on them.
If Sarin were used in the doctrinal manner described against an enemy not in chemical protective posture the artillery barrage would have an enhanced effect on its target even if they have cover. Used properly it could easily make the targeted unit combat ineffective which is why in the gulf war soldiers advanced in MOPP level II.
I could go on but others know more than I.
I'm not an expert but my understanding is that a few dozen of these shells going off in a small area will cause some major MAJOR problems. One shell in an open air scenario isn't that bad comparatively speaking.
But let's not forget that Hussein wasn't even supposed to have ONE. So you know there are definitely more out there.
It did explode, but the contents may not have been completely mixed. An artillery shell, well the more modern ones, uses a binary warhead, wherein two precursor chemicals are mixed by the action of firing the shell. Since this shell was not fired, the only mixing that probably occurred was after the bursting charge went off. Normally the function of that charge is to produce of cloud of sarin vapor, the sarin having been created by the mixing at firing. In this case most of the precursor chemicals would not have been mixed, merely dissipated by the explosion. I've read reports that indicate that much sarin, if properly dispersed, could kill 80,000 people. (Although that degree of "proper dispersion" would seem highly unlikely).
If the shell was not marked as a chemical one, it's possible that the scrotes who converted it to an IED did not know what they had. If they did know, I would have thought they'd have tried for a more effective use, although they may not have understood enough about how it worked to know that it would only work properly if fired from an artillery piece.
"Someone who knows about Sarin gas, tell me what this quantity means?"
It was enough that had it been detonated properly those two soldiers plus a lot more people in the vicinity of the detonation would be dead right now.
I pray that this is a wake up call to my friends still over there to start carrying their pro masks with them on their person again.
If mixed properly, it'll kill ya. Sarin nerve gas was what the Japanese terrorist group Aum Shikiryo used in the subway station a few years ago. Like all chemical and bio weapons, however, it is very hard to prepare and handle. Had the sarin gas used in the subway been prepared properly, it would have killed hundreds of people, not 12.
"Sarin is extremely toxic-one hundred milligrams, roughly one drop, can kill the average person in a few minutes time. People who do not receive a lethal dose and do not receive immediate medical attention can suffer permanent neurological damage."
http://www.fas.org/biosecurity/sarin.html">http://www.fas.org/biosecurity/sarin.html
And according to FAS, the technique that Iraq had produced sarin in a relatively very pure form.