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Report Cites Al Qaeda Deal For Iraqi Gas
Washington Post ^ | 12/12/2002 | Barton Gellman

Posted on 12/11/2002 8:43:01 PM PST by Pokey78

U.S. Suspects Nerve Agent VX Was Smuggled Through Turkey

The Bush administration has received a credible report that Islamic extremists affiliated with 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 and that a courier managed to smuggle it overland through Turkey.

If the report proves true, the transaction marks two significant milestones. It would be the first known acquisition of a nonconventional weapon other than cyanide by al Qaeda or a member of its network. It also would be the most concrete evidence to support the charge, aired for months by President Bush and his advisers, that al Qaeda terrorists receive material assistance in Iraq. If advanced publicly by the White House, the report could be used to rebut Iraq's assertion in a 12,000-page declaration Saturday that it had destroyed its entire stock of chemical weapons.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; iraq; vxgas; wmd
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1 posted on 12/11/2002 8:43:01 PM PST by Pokey78
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To: Pokey78
   
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.
2 posted on 12/11/2002 8:47:50 PM PST by GirlShortstop
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To: Pokey78
Seems to me as if the Bush War Room should be in a smooth count by now...

TMMT
3 posted on 12/11/2002 8:47:57 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
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To: Pokey78
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.

4 posted on 12/11/2002 8:50:00 PM PST by jwfiv
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To: Pokey78
If true, it's big. But don't expect the nets to report this story. They're having far too much fun demeaning Lott.
5 posted on 12/11/2002 8:51:31 PM PST by Peach
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To: Pokey78
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.

6 posted on 12/11/2002 8:58:33 PM PST by McGavin999
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To: McGavin999
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)

7 posted on 12/11/2002 9:01:36 PM PST by Centurion2000
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To: McGavin999
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!
8 posted on 12/11/2002 9:02:17 PM PST by gorebegone
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To: Peach
Sorry, but Lott screwed himself. The man is almost as stupid as Gore ....
9 posted on 12/11/2002 9:05:54 PM PST by ex-Texan
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To: GirlShortstop
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.

10 posted on 12/11/2002 9:06:47 PM PST by goody2shooz
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To: jwfiv
The headlines are beginning to read like a Debka report.

Too true.

11 posted on 12/11/2002 9:08:48 PM PST by samtheman
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To: ex-Texan
Yes. Few crimes in the history of the human race are as vile as whatever it was that Lott did.
12 posted on 12/11/2002 9:09:09 PM PST by per loin
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To: Pokey78
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.

13 posted on 12/11/2002 9:11:11 PM PST by samtheman
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To: goody2shooz
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.
14 posted on 12/11/2002 9:12:43 PM PST by MHGinTN
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To: Pokey78
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.

15 posted on 12/11/2002 9:13:22 PM PST by concerned about politics
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To: samtheman
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.
16 posted on 12/11/2002 9:28:52 PM PST by 11B3
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To: samtheman
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.

17 posted on 12/11/2002 9:30:43 PM PST by dagnabbit
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To: per loin
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.

18 posted on 12/11/2002 9:31:05 PM PST by concerned about politics
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To: dagnabbit
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."

19 posted on 12/11/2002 9:36:19 PM PST by concerned about politics
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To: dagnabbit
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.
20 posted on 12/11/2002 9:37:18 PM PST by samtheman
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