'CHEMICAL SHELLS FOUND' (Hello Mr. Blix!)

Sky News ^ | 13 April, 2003

[Happy2BMe]

'CHEMICAL SHELLS FOUND'

US Marines have discovered 278 artillery shells carrying a substance that tested positive as a blistering agent, senior officers have said.

Major Stephen Armes, of the Marines 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, said the shells were found in trailers parked in a schoolyard.

Three were mounted on launchers, he said.

But the battalion commander said more tests were required before any conclusions could be drawn.

Coalition forces have yet to find any evidence of chemical weapons since launching the war in Iraq on March 20.

All the alleged finds have so far turned out to be false upon further analysis.

But military commanders remain confident they will eventually uncover weapons of mass destruction.

They say thousands of sites have to be searched and it is only a matter of time. 

"I have not found any that I have absolutely satisfied myself are...weapon of mass destruction materials," Coalition commander General Tommy Franks told reporters.

"But you're talking about 2,000, 3,000 perhaps, places in this country where we know we're going to go and investigate each one of them.

"We may have...somewhere between five and 10 and 15 site exploitations ongoing in a 24-hour period of time."

In some of these cases the testing could take up to three weeks or more, he added.

[JudyB1938]

When you look at the bottom of a post, it says "TO and a number" (to the post being replied to).

I was thanking you for posting the political cartoon.

[Maelstrom]

Good, we do actually have one.

Preliminary testing gave us indications of a nerve agent.
Later testings confirmed a nerve agent, but in concentrations designed to kill insects.

The military reported it, Fox repeated what they were told from the military.

[Maelstrom]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/892492/posts

[R. Scott]

“I haven't heard that our military has yet declared any of the stuff found to NOT be WMD.”

Yes – drums of chemicals found at an agricultural center – reported by the media as chemical weapons – were confirmed by our military as insecticide.

Our military will not be stating unequivocally that chemical weapons have been found – until tests have confirmed that they are in fact chemical weapons. Fortunately our military has a much higher standard of reporting than our news media.

[cyncooper]

were confirmed by our military as insecticide.

That is not correct. It may well turn out to be. You may be thinking of the drums above ground, not the ones in a trench, hidden underground. But even the above ground drums have not been confirmed to be anything, whether pesticide or something more sinister. All test results are pending.

And please note, I am not leaping to conclusions----in either direction.

[mass55th]

"Yes – drums of chemicals found at an agricultural center – reported by the media as chemical weapons – were confirmed by our military as insecticide."

I was under the impression that samples of these were sent to the US for further testing, but that no findings have been released yet. Can you provide a link to the source of the military's findings on these chemicals?

[I'm ALL Right!]

ugh! poor chelsea never had a chance.

[cyncooper]

I see certain media did their job well, spreading disinformation. Again, you are correct. Samples were, or are in the process of being, sent to the U.S. for tests.

[ThomasMore]

Bagdad Bob said this was "just" pesticide. They shot the artillery at the locusts and blew the shite out of them. That's why there is "pesticide" (blistering agents) in the warheads. (Most gullible award alert)

[R. Scott]

I doubt I could find a link to old news – but the pentagon briefing shortly after the find at the agricultural center stated they were pesticides. The word isn’t back yet (that I’ve heard) on the rest of the sites – although concealed and buried caches don’t sound much like pesticides.