Commandant: Marines Prepared For Iraq's Chem-Bio Weapons

InsideDefense.com | March 19, 2003 | Christopher J. Castelli

[Stand Watch Listen]

As the United States stands on the precipice of war with Iraq, deployed Marines are prepared for the threat of chemical and biological weapons, according to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee.

"I believe we are as prepared as technology can make us today," Hagee told Inside the Navy in an interview today, noting Marines have received the necessary training and equipment.

How long a war with Iraq might last is unclear. "If it goes, we don't know if the Iraqis are going to come out with an American flag in one hand and a flower in the other, or whether they are going to come out and fight to the best of their ability until it's over," Hagee said.

The commandant said both chemical and biological weapons are threats U.S. forces might encounter in a war with Iraq, but he would not speculate on whether Iraq would use such agents in combat. "'We don't know' is the best answer, I think," he said. U.S. officials have several different plans, depending on what happens. "And so you plan for the best and you also plan for the worst -- and we have planned for the worst," he said.

"We have the best equipment that technology and science can provide us right now," added Hagee, noting the Marines have protective suits, masks and filters. The Marines have sufficient quantities of protective suits and filters to issue three to each individual, if necessary, he said. "Obviously they are not carrying all this stuff -- we'll rotate it if necessary."

Deployed Marines in the Middle East also have a low-tech tool that could confirm a chemical attack in the event one occurs -- pigeons, which are naturally more sensitive to such weapons than people.

U.S. forces, however, might not immediately detect any biological attacks, according to Hagee. "We can do soil samples and air samples and determine what it was after the fact," he said. "We're working hard on that, science is working hard on that."

Anticipating threats beyond those U.S. forces might encounter in Iraq, Hagee warned the United States is not very good at defending against new, "so-called fourth-generation chemical agents" -- dusty chemicals that can "penetrate almost anything." The United States must work harder to develop better protection, he said.

-- Christopher J. Castelli