Posted on 10/08/2006 4:40:30 PM PDT by ARealMothersSonForever
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick from poisoning Sunday at a base in southern Iraq after the evening meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast, and officials said they were investigating whether the poisoning was intentional.
An official with the Environment Ministry said 11 policemen had died. However, the governor of Wasit province — where the poisoning took place — denied any deaths, though he said some of the victims were in critical condition. There was no immediate explanation for the contradictory reports.
Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal, said Jassim al-Atwan, an inspector for the Environment Ministry, who was serving as a liaison in the investigation between the Health Ministry and the base, located in the town of Numaniyah.
"Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the iftar," Wasit Gov. Hamad al-Latif told the Associated Press, referring to the meal that breaks the sunrise-to-sunset fast during the Islamic holy month. "Investigations are under way to determine the cause."
Samples of the food and water were being tested "to determine the substance in them" and will be sent to Baghdad for further tests, al-Latif said.
Sunni insurgents who have targeted police and military forces with bombings and shootings have not been known to use poisoning as a weapon. But the suddenness and severity of the sickness raised speculation that the incident could be a new attack. The division is mainly made up of Shiites.
Between 600-700 policemen were affected to varying degrees, and 11 who had the heaviest amount of the food had died, al-Atwan told The Associated Press.
Some of the soldiers collapsed as soon as they stood up from them meal, others fell "one after the other" as they headed out to the yard in the base to line up in formation, al-Atwan said.
Iraqi ambulances and helicopters sent by the U.S. military rushed the policemen to hospitals in Numaniyah and the nearby city of Kut.
The afflicted policemen belonged to the 4th Division of the National Police, nicknamed the "Karrar" Division, after a title of Imam Ali, the most revered Shiite saint.
The division normally operates around the town of Salman Pak on the southeastern outskirts of Baghdad — an area of intense Shiite-Sunni killings. The division was sent to the base in Numaniyah, 60 miles southeast of the capital, for further training.
Al-Latif said food and water at the base are provided by an Australian contractor working through Iraqi subcontractors. He did not identify the Australian firm.
I rest my case.
Al Qaeda (in Iraq) threatened WMD attack:
"The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them," he said. http://www.aina.org/news/20060928140622.htm
Now, the threat was against US bases, but IIRC, before 9/11, we were thinking an attack would occur against US interests overseas. When they threaten, they don't always give us the exact details. Don't know what to make of this, but it may be significant.
Even a massive dose of warfarin doen't act so quickly immediately after a meal(10 to 20 milligrams).
He does yes. Thank you for pointing that out.
Some kind of ebola-like virus maybe?
I wonder what level REM exposure would do this?
700? 900?
So even with a massive dose, this is not Coumadin.
Besides I see patients all the time who are WAY overdosed on Coumadin and they do fine until the FFP comes.
There is a hemotoxin from snake venom that could do this, but not from ingestion.
Please do not degenerate this thread into a battle. It was originally posted under extended, and someone deemed that it could be more important. It is interesting to speculate on what may have happened. Not fun to pound on each other.
Whoever murdered the Iraqi policemen is responsible for their murder, okay.
It is however fair to say that a united front in the United States for the past five years might have convinced many terrorists active in Iraq that they were in a losing position. That the democrats seem to be fightiing the Bush Admin on a day to day basis gives a LOT of encouragement to people who view America as their enemy.
Thank you. Many Iraqis are helping us, as we have helped them. We have lost many good people for Iraq, and I have great respect for people who stand in lines to join the Iraqi police, only to be blown up by terrorists. Yet, they continue to sign up. If we don't support them, who will? Also, peace and security in Iraq is good for all Americans.
PS - You should read my mind after a terrorist attack, or after an Iraqi demonstration against the US... I am capable of the dreaded word: nuance...to say the least
"Blaming dems on US soil for poisoning deaths overseas is idiotic."
The democrats' whining and propaganda have been a major handicap for our country's efforts in Iraq, greatly emboldening the enemy and directly causing them to commit more atrocities such as this barbaric poisoning.
Not only are democrats partly to blame for this, but a significant number of them desire this kind of thing because they want the new Iraq to fail. Democrats seek political gain by actively sabotaging Bush and our military.
Now you should understand how the democrats are unAmerican and unpatriotic.
Thank you as well... it's hard trying to make sense of this! (not the attack - there's no understanding evil...). I'm reading up on Blood Agents now, but I just finished reading about toxins (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/17-15/appd.htm) and the related symptoms about bleeding from body openings (and mimicking radiation sickness), and now I'm reading Blood agents can cause death within 10 mins. What blood agents are we aware of besides cyanide and arsine? I wonder how they could've weaponized those and made them mega-killers even worse than they are now.
I always wondered why Martha Stewart had a segment making a dessert, and suggested NOT to use the Mexican Vanilla, but she never said why.
The left's encouragement is generally implied. Thank you for a bit of clarity. This is at least 3 against one here so I know I'll eventually lose.
Siren at Drudge - and he took down the link to this thread's story. (I imagine he or someone working with him will put it back at the next radio show commercial break?)
Duh! Look who is sounding like an idiot now....
To soon....ricin or some type of mustard derivative...unless some-one has found a way to weaponize TPA, TNK, or streptokinase which are fibrinolytics used to open freshly clotted arteries in the lungs, heart or brain. TNK is slower acting, used in conjunction often times with heparin drips post thrombolectomies of femoral arteries or veind to keep new clots from forming post procedure for approx 24 hours.
This substance sounds very exotic. I've heard of some new discoveries of sea creatures that produce a substance that is extremely potent in its anti-coagulation properties. Some-body is playing with a very potent bio-chemistry set!
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