Report Cites Al Qaeda Deal For Iraqi Gas

Washington Post ^ | 12/12/2002 | Barton Gellman

[GirlShortstop]

   
Could it be THE SMOKING GUN?   When I watched the cspan broadcast of Colin Powell's testimony to the House Committee, I wondered how long before *what they know* would come to light.  The wait may soon be over.

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Seems to me as if the Bush War Room should be in a smooth count by now...

TMMT

[jwfiv]

Coming from the comPost, and the timing being just right, I'd say a rather significant development.

The headlines are beginning to read like a Debka report.

[Peach]

If true, it's big. But don't expect the nets to report this story. They're having far too much fun demeaning Lott.

[McGavin999]

So, this is the reason for the very public statement by Bush that if chemical weapons are used, we reserve the right to use nuclear weapons.

Bush knows that if there is an attack like this on US soil, the peole will go bonkers. There will be no way to contain their rage.

[Centurion2000]

Bush knows that if there is an attack like this on US soil, the peole will go bonkers. There will be no way to contain their rage

Hope he realizes that it will be open season on middle easterners and mosques as well if this should happen.

Rage is an understatement if they kill thousands with nerve gas (like a football or hockey game)

[gorebegone]

It would be unfortunate if the Hollywood peaceniks cause the agonizing deaths of hundreds or thousands of innocent Americans. It may already be too late to stop this VX gas from reaching our shores. May God help us, the liberals sure aren't going to!

[ex-Texan]

Sorry, but Lott screwed himself. The man is almost as stupid as Gore ....

[goody2shooz]

I wonder...the wait may soon be over...what will happen if we go to war BEFORE Al Qaeda has the opportunity to get that VX gas across the Atlantic Ocean.

In that case the Europeans may find a nasty surprise right in their bailiwick.

My guess? Either the London Underground (The Tube) or the Paris Metro (Le Toob). This would be determined by how far AQ can get with the gas before they are compelled, spooks hot on their tails, into having to set it off.

[samtheman]

The headlines are beginning to read like a Debka report.

Too true.

[per loin]

Yes. Few crimes in the history of the human race are as vile as whatever it was that Lott did.

[samtheman]

VX is an oily, odorless and tasteless liquid that kills on contact with the skin or when inhaled in aerosol form. Like other nerve agents, it is treatable in the first minutes after exposure but otherwise leads swiftly to fatal convulsions and respiratory failure

Sounds pretty horrible.

If this stuff gets used, the rage of the people will not be contained. Bush will be forced to put the US Army on the border, even if he doesn't want to.

[MHGinTN]

Saddam, in typical clintonian style, will parse the words 'their' and 'in pssession' ... sending a stockpile of WMD to a fanatical friend for return later will come to be 'not in my possession is to no longer "my" WMD'. The arabs will howl with approval.

[concerned about politics]

al Qaeda took possession of a chemical weapon in Iraq last month or late in October, according to two officials with firsthand knowledge of the report and its source. They said government analysts suspect that the transaction involved the nerve agent VX

Crimminy!
Let's hope and pray they spill it on themselves trying to load it into something.

[11B3]

Yes, VX poisoning is a horrible way to die. In an old training film, the Army Chemical Corps took some sheep, goats, and birds, and put them all inside some tank bodies at a test range. They then fired chemical rounds into the area and filmed the results:

The sheep/goats all died from broken backs rather than from the VX itself. Their symptoms began as severe drooling, dizziness, lack of comprehension, and then progressed into convulsions that were uncontrollable. At this point, every single nerve in the body is firing signals non-stop - so every muscle in the body is fully contracted. The muscles finally overcome the skeletal structure, and the spinal column is shattered, killing the victim.

It only takes a couple of tiny drops to kill a human.

[dagnabbit]

If this stuff gets used, the rage of the people will not be contained. Bush will be forced to put the US Army on the border, even if he doesn't want to.

I dunno. Having 3,000 people murdered and national-landmarks destroyed before our eyes didn't effect much change in our border control and immigration policies.

[concerned about politics]

Yes. Few crimes in the history of the human race are as vile as whatever it was that Lott did.

Nah. Democrat Senator Byrd - Honorary member of the Klu Kux Klan - thought African Americans should die because of the color of their skin. Isn't he.... special.
I've yet to find anyone who even cares about what Lott said. Most just shrug the "democrat outrage" off as typical cut-throat politics - even my husbands African American co-worker who voted for Gore! No joke.

[concerned about politics]

I dunno. Having 3,000 people murdered and national-landmarks destroyed before our eyes didn't effect much change in our border control and immigration policies.

What's even worse is the democrat liberals ignoring the fact that it ever happened! Have you heard the Horrywood liberals? They want to send Saddam and the various terrorist groups peace roses!!! The 3,000 lives were merely an inconvieniance! "Let's just put this all behind us and move on."

[samtheman]

That was then, this is now.

A second attack will cause a much stronger affect.

The first attack didn't send me down to the border with a gun on my hip.

The second one will.