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Syrian blast was chemical warhead glitch-magazine (Update)
Reuters ^ | 9/19/2007 | unattributed

Posted on 09/19/2007 12:06:09 PM PDT by mojito

An explosion at a Syrian military complex in July which killed 15 soldiers was a bid to arm a chemical warhead and was not caused by a heatwave as Damascus said, according to Jane's Defence Weekly.

Syria had said temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) caused an ammunition dump to explode, killing the soldiers and wounding another 50.

But Jane's Defence, quoting Syrian defence sources, said the blast occurred as Syrian weapons experts, with Iranian backing, were attempting to activate a 500-km-range (300-mile-range) "Scud C" missile with a mustard gas warhead.

"The explosion occurred when fuel caught alight in the missile production laboratory," the magazine said, quoting the sources.

"The blast dispersed chemical agents (including VX and Sarin nerve agents and mustard blister agent) across the storage facility and outside. Other Iranian engineers were seriously injured with chemical burns to exposed body parts."

The sources said dozens of Iranian missile engineers were killed along with the 15 Syrians.

The magazine also pointed out that the explosion occurred at about 4:30 a.m., two hours before sunrise, when temperatures have barely begun to rise, let alone reach 50 C.

Syrian officials were not immediately available to comment on the Jane's story.

The article, to be published in the Sept. 29 edition, said the Syrian-Iranian cooperation at the classified military production facility in Aleppo, northern Syria, was the result of a two-year-old weapons agreement between the two nations.

Under the deal, the magazine said, Iran agreed to supply Syria with weapons and ammunition, train Syrian personnel, and help transfer technology for weapons of mass destruction, including chemical-warfare systems.

It said the agreement, signed in November 2005, had led to the establishment of five pilot facilities in Syria aimed at producing chemical weapon precursors.

As a result of the explosion on July 26, Jane's said an Iranian-Syrian programme to arm short-range ballistic missiles with chemical warheads had been aborted.


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iran; islam; israel; lol; missiles; muhammadsminions; mustardgas; sarin; sept62007; syria; waronislamism; wot
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An update of yesterday's story, with a few additional details.
1 posted on 09/19/2007 12:06:13 PM PDT by mojito
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To: mojito

“the explosion occurred at about 4:30 a.m., two hours before sunrise”

Maybe there’s a sat-photo available?


2 posted on 09/19/2007 12:08:33 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel
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To: mojito

I can’t think of a more deserving group of people to have something like this happen to.

I’m only sorry that so few were killed and injured.


3 posted on 09/19/2007 12:08:51 PM PDT by MplsSteve
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To: mojito
"As a result of the explosion on July 26, Jane's said an Iranian-Syrian programme to arm short-range ballistic missiles with chemical warheads had been aborted."

Yeah, Right. Perhaps only at that one site...

4 posted on 09/19/2007 12:08:57 PM PDT by Abathar (Proudly posting without reading the article carefully since 2004)
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To: mojito

Couldn’t happen to a nicer country.


5 posted on 09/19/2007 12:09:19 PM PDT by inkling (exurbanleague.com)
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To: mojito

6 posted on 09/19/2007 12:12:23 PM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: There is no god named Allah, and Muhammed is a false prophet)
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To: mojito
an Iranian-Syrian programme to arm short-range ballistic missiles with chemical warheads had been aborted

Ballistic missiles, even short range, should really go further than 0 feet.

7 posted on 09/19/2007 12:13:57 PM PDT by green iguana
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To: mojito
Syria had said temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) caused an ammunition dump to explode, killing the soldiers and wounding another 50.

Next Al Gore will blame it on Global Warming which means it's all Bush's fault.

8 posted on 09/19/2007 12:17:37 PM PDT by Ditto (Global Warming: The 21st Century's Snake Oil)
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To: Ditto

These a-holes get a nice big fat posthumous Darwin award.


9 posted on 09/19/2007 12:20:32 PM PDT by shankbear (Al-Qaeda grew while Monica blew)
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To: mojito

There’s one word missing from this article. Anyone know what it is?

If this is true, Syria just developed crosshairs.


10 posted on 09/19/2007 12:21:01 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Sorry Hillderella, but the Hsu fits... and king Lerach would like a call. < wicked witch laughter >)
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To: mojito

“dozens of Iranian missile engineers were killed along with the 15 Syrians.”

good.


11 posted on 09/19/2007 12:21:12 PM PDT by Ancient Drive
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To: mojito

re: # 1Could this have been one of those WMDs tht Saddam didn’t have and somebody saw being moved out of Iraq?


12 posted on 09/19/2007 12:22:25 PM PDT by Turret Gunner A20
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To: mojito

Saddam must not have shipped out the Owners Manuals with his WMDs. Here’s hoping for lots more “Work Accidents” in the future...


13 posted on 09/19/2007 12:25:03 PM PDT by gridlock (I do not support Hillary Clinton because I am afraid of strong women)
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To: shankbear
>>>These a-holes get a nice big fat posthumous Darwin award.<<<

The Darwin principle seems to be working on a number of the Islamic terrorists attack plans....unfortunately not fast enough.

We may to have to intervene...to help nature along..... don't you understand.

14 posted on 09/19/2007 12:27:36 PM PDT by HardStarboard (Take No Prisoners - We're Out of Qurans)
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To: mojito
I suppose the Red Sea swallowing Pharaoh's’s chariots was also due to a procedural glitch
15 posted on 09/19/2007 12:27:49 PM PDT by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: mojito

“The blast dispersed chemical agents (including VX and Sarin nerve agents and mustard blister agent) across the storage facility and outside. Other Iranian engineers were seriously injured with chemical burns to exposed body parts.”

So they were putting a mustard warhead on the missle but there were containers of VX & Sarin sitting nearby that were damaged by the blast? Sounds a bit improbable - you’d think that agents like VX & Sarin would be secured far away from any activity like this.

And if the nerve agents were in the mix those exposed would suffer something more serious than “chemical burns” - more like “death”.

Just a couple of details that start the needle on the BS meter to quiver a bit.


16 posted on 09/19/2007 12:28:14 PM PDT by G L Tirebiter
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To: mojito

Whee! This is getting tense.


17 posted on 09/19/2007 12:30:39 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/)
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To: mojito; neverdem; Congressman Billybob; patton; theDentist; Cyber Liberty

The blast dispersed chemical agents (including VX and Sarin nerve agents and mustard blister agent) across the storage facility and outside. Other Iranian engineers were seriously injured with chemical burns to exposed body parts.”

But Saddamn “never” had nerve gas & WMD’s, nor did he “ever” transport them secretly to Syria while te lierals were stalling Bush’s invasion of Iraq to specifically FIND such weapons, nor did Syria “ever” cooperate with Iraq and other Arab states to continue work on WMD’s after Saddam n was removed from office.....

Nah.

Waiting for ABBCNNBCBS to report this.
Waiting for Newsweek to report this (instead of fawning over HIllary’s lies.

Still waiting.
Still waiting..
Still waiting...
Still waiting....
Still waiting.....
Still waiting......
Still waiting.......


18 posted on 09/19/2007 12:32:29 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: mojito
The sources said dozens of Iranian missile engineers were killed along with the 15 Syrians.

Good news comes in small packages..............

19 posted on 09/19/2007 12:33:15 PM PDT by Red Badger (ALL that CARBON in ALL that oil & coal was once in the atmospere. We're just putting it back!)
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To: mojito
Curious. What those other agents were doing in the same facility is more than a little disturbing. Both VX and Sarin can be binary agents but don't have to be. If they aren't this sort of accident is perfectly possible.

This delivery platform - I'm assuming it was a generic Scud type and not literally a Scud missile - isn't particularly accurate for testing purposes; that is, you wouldn't just park a herd of sheep out in a test facility somewhere and expect to hit it. Either the story isn't anywhere near complete or something rather nasty was in the offing. Inquiring minds want to know...

20 posted on 09/19/2007 12:35:06 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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