Sarin Gas Kit found by British Troops

Timesonline ^ | March,30,2003 | Tim Butcher

[Dog]

A stash of Iraqi training equipment for nuclear, biological and chemical warfare was discovered by British troops today, including a Geiger counter, nerve gas simulators, gas masks and protective suits.

One of the chemicals found in the cache was marked ominously both in Russian and English with the name Sarin, a dangerous nerve gas which Saddam Hussein is suspected to have in his arsenal.

The chemical appeared not to be a sample of Sarin but some sort of simulator used to test if Sarin was in the atmosphere. Nevertheless it was marked “dangerous to humans if exposed for ten minutes without a respirator”.

The discovery was made in an Iraqi ordnance facility south of Basra in territory now controlled by coalition forces.

Although it did not provide the “smoking gun” to support Allied claims that Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction, it nevertheless represented a propaganda coup for Britain and America.

It showed that nuclear, biological and chemical weapons training was at least available to Iraqi forces.

“Until further tests are carried out on the vials of chemicals we have found here we do not know exactly what the material is,” Captain Kevin Cooney of the Joint NBC Regiment said.

“To my eye it looks like training equipment to teach people how to identify if there is something like Sarin in the air and what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

“Further tests will have to be done and this is now a matter that has been passed up the chain of command for further consideration.”

The equipment included relatively modern “Combo Pens”, devices carried by troops who anticipate possible attack by nerve agents and which deliver a small but concentrated dose of antidote if punched against the thigh.

There were vials of atropine, the antidote for nerve gas attack using by British and American forces. There were 13 large wooden cases, some marked “Ministry of Defence, Baghdad”, containing gas masks, plastic suits and other materiel.

Perhaps the most worrying thing were two packets of thin, glass vials, each containing some coloured crystals, apparently with instructions on how to use them for detection of nerve agents, including “Sarin, Soman and V-Gases”.

The directions indicated how the vials could be broken and the vapour in some way pumped into a small hand pump which was then filled with the atmosphere that was to be tested.

A certain colour change in the chemical appeared to the indicator of the presence of Sarin, one of the most sinister and dangerous nerve agents, believed by western intelligence agencies to be in Saddam’s arsenal.

There were also relatively modern posters on the walls of the room, with Arabic inscriptions, depicting what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.

The building in which the material was found was located in what appeared to be a military training establishment with examples of how to build trench systems and bunkers, and how to string out razor wire defences.

This was a pooled report for the British media. The reporter is from The Daily Telegraph.

[Wolfstar]

Dog, the amazing thing is there hasn't been word one about this on any of the news channels (at least no insofar as I know), not even Fox.

[Bronzewound]

Have you noticed that every breaking news article regarding us finding chem/bio weapons has fizzled out?

[Starrgaizr]

That is an incredible photo/diagram. What a surprise that is hasn't been seen in all media.

[Wolfstar]

Anyone with half a brain — which excludes about 99% of our media — knows that the stuff the Iraqi's are shooting into the skies of Baghdad must be coming back down somewhere nearby. They sure aren't hitting any of our missiles or aircraft.

(Note: Please don't misunderstand the "half a brain" comment. It's directed entirely to the media, which largely has behaved abominably, in my opinion.)

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Hans Blix and Koffi Annan: Ping!!

[Grampa Dave]

One of the basic laws of physics is at work here.

What goes up will come down with the same terminal velocity as it started with. Add that terminal velocity to explosives and fuel on board, you have the recipe for disaster for the people of Baghdad.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

That's right. Iraq's air defenses have been so degraded that their missiles are totally spoofed by our countermeasures, so they're losing guidance and crashing blindly into the city of Baghdad.

[libertylover]

Is this an actual photograph?

[Grampa Dave]

It is an actual picture. Now I'm getting feedback from Squantos, one of military experts, that these are cookoffs or secondary explosions after our big bombs hit.

Regardless they are Iraqi rockets exploding over Baghdad.

[sirchtruth]

Although it did not provide the “smoking gun” to support Allied claims that Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction, it nevertheless represented a propaganda coup for Britain and America.

Although the Press is too friggin stupid to get a "clue," they still will use all forms of propoganda to convience viewers, listeners, and readers of the colored subterfuge, that this is not a "JUST" war.

[Bogey78O]

cookoffs?

So you are saying that our bombs are hitting their munitions thus setting them off.

Sorry, if I sound dense. I've just been out of the loop.

[Grampa Dave]

That is the feedback that I got from Squantos, one of our resident military experts, who is really good.

[Tommyjo]

There was a "cook-off" last night on the outskirts of Baghdad. From the resulting airstrike you could plainy see a munition cartwheeling.

[Wolfstar]

I know, and I'm not yet sure what to make of it. Awhile back during the inspections fiasco, Israeli officials were saying that Hussein moved most of his banned stuff to Syria. Don't know if I believe that, either, but it is food for thought.

[rwfromkansas]

Still not the real thing (not saying Iraq doesn't have it; of course they do).

[Wolfstar]

Yup, and unfortunately a PR windfall for the rabid Arabic news outlets.

[Wolfstar]

How reliable is the media in general?! I say, not much. What they don't fabricate outright, they mix up, misquote or misstate — either out of maliciousness or because they are dumber than a box of rocks. I mean, to hear them tell it, we should all learn Arabic in a hurry because our massive defeat is just around the corner.

[Dog]

Fox is going to be talking about this story shortly..

[ET(end tyranny)]

In Arabic and Russian Well, guess we know why Russia wasn't one of the coalition of the willing.

I thought it said Russian and English.

[Illbay]

Sorry, but the Iraqis can still plausibly maintain to a gullible world sympathetic to their cause that this is all training gear for the "atrocities" they expect to be committed by the Coalition troops.

In fact, I fully expect to see the first chemical attack blamed on the Coalition, not Iraq, no matter what the facts are.