Posted on 03/19/2007 8:47:29 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - A chemical warfare expert said Monday the chlorine gas-loaded weapons used by Iraqi insurgents amount to "chemical dirty bombs" and will be hard to stop.
However, the insurgents so far appear only to have access to a rudimentary and inefficient method of spreading the gas - blowing it up in suicide bombings.
Jonathan Tucker, a visiting Fulbright fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said there is little that can be done to stop the attacks because chlorine, which is used for water purification across Iraq, is so widely available.
"They can try to limit access to chlorine ... but given the black market situation that would be difficult to do," he said in a telephone interview during a visit to The Hague.
"This is obviously a very crude terrorist tactic. Terrorists tend to be very opportunistic and this is a new tactic for them that is scaring a lot of people and doing significant harm," he said. "These are chemical dirty bombs."
On Friday, three suicide bombers driving trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas struck targets in heavily Sunni Anbar province, killing at least two people and sickening 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops, the U.S. military said.
The attacks drew sharp condemnation Monday from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Rogelio Pfirter, director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a U.N. watchdog.
Ban "is appalled" by the recent terrorist bombings using chlorine gas "which are clearly intended to cause panic and instability in the country," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said at U.N. headquarters in New York.
There have been four other bombings that released chlorine gas since Jan. 28, when a suicide bomber driving a dump truck filled with explosives and a chlorine tank struck a quick-reaction force and Iraqi police in Ramadi, killing 16 people.
The method used by Iraqi insurgents for spreading the gas - carrying it in vehicles blown up by suicide bombers - is "an extremely crude means of delivery," Tucker said. "A lot of the chemicals would be consumed in the explosion itself. It is just not a very efficient means of dispersal."
Chlorine irritates the respiratory system, eyes and skin at low exposure and can cause death in heavier concentrations.
Victims in the recent chlorine blasts died from the explosions, not the effects of the gas, but scores of people have been hospitalized suffering the effects of chlorine exposure.
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How much longer will we deal in a "civilized" manner with these uncivilized evil bastards?
How much longer before we deliver a level of destruction to the heads and seats of militant Islam that will try men's will?
Semper Fi
It will take great suffering within the USA.
When the Left cannot find a prescription or a therapist to numb their pain and delude their instincts.
When Oprah shuts up.
Curious ... just what kind of an "uncivilized" response to this new form of attack would you consider ?
Laying waste to the insurgent neighborhoods, destroying every Iranian military base within 200 kilometers of the Iraqi border, immediately executing the small fry captured 'insurgents' and hanging their heads on pikes along the roadway, and after a thorough 'interrogation' the big fish insurgents should be drawn and quartered on Iraqi pay-per-view.
But as I understand horses aren't very common in Iraq I'd settle for breaking on the wheel.
Oh and killing Mookie very, very slowly in the public square. I'd suggest slow roasting him over a fire.
Or maybe a blow torch and some bolt cutters....the possibilities are endless.
L
Lets just take the first one you suggest -
"Laying waste to the insurgent neighborhoods"
Are you saying that we know who they are and where they live and are not going after them ?
I've been saying for days now: park 3 or 4 Ohio class subs off the Iranian coast. Let Imanutjob know that if so much as one American soldier or Marine is injured by a dirty chemical bomb, the boomers are going to party on every bit of Iran...
LOL - you think that the suicide bombers are going to care ?
The whole object from 911 was to start a massive war - are you planning on handing Bin Laden what he wanted ?
Isn't chlorine gas a WMD?
Pretty much.
Think Sadr City.
Think Falluja.
They should both be smoking rubble.
L
When they lose their sponsors, where are they going to get the bombs, or the money to make them? Bin Laden is hiding in some cave. The Saudis won't want to stir up anymore trouble, so any funding from them is doubtful. Take the gloves off, and this war is over in about 24 hours...
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
You're joking right ?
"When they lose their sponsors, where are they going to get the bombs, or the money to make them?"
Blowing up a tanker full of chlorine dosen't take a lot of money or expertise.
When you eliminate an enemy, always go for the head first. It's a fundamental military tactic.
If that's too difficult for you to understand, think of a snake. When you try to kill one, where's the first place you go?
I'd try and explain a few other military tactics, but they're obviously beyond your comprehension, so I won't bore you with details that are out of your reach...
"Think Sadr City."
I forget, is Sadr City predomininately Sunni or Shite ?
Are they setting off chlorine tanks to kill their own kind ?
"I'd try and explain a few other military tactics, but they're obviously beyond your comprehension,..."
LOL - like it's REALLY hard to understand the depth of your insight ...
But let's go with it ... Explain to me how a suicide bomber in Iraq, or Bin Laden in Pakistan, is going to be detered by a threat to Tehran.
Sadr City would be Shi'ite. It's Mookie Al Sadrs base of operations.
And personally I don't care which sect of that death cult inhabits which patch of god-forsaken dust. If they screw with one single US Service person I say we make it so not one stone stands upon another.
Let them hate so long as they fear.
Are they setting off chlorine tanks to kill their own kind ?
They're setting them off to kill and they don't really seem to care who dies.
I say if we catch one of these 'insurgents' we use whatever means will make 'em talk. Squeeze 'em till they've got nothing left.
Then kill 'em and hang their heads on pikes outside the city as a warning to anyone else who shows up to make trouble.
L
"I say if we catch one of these 'insurgents' we use whatever means will make 'em talk. Squeeze 'em till they've got nothing left."
Cool - put it on Pay per view, but do you think that will deter suicide bombers ?
The funding for the suicide bombers, it does take money to make a bomb, is coming primarily from Iran and Syria. Some comes from Saudi Arabia. That will dry up when you cut off the snake's head. The funding dries up, and suicide bombers are like a bunch of frat boys with nothing much to do...
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