Suspicious Iraqi Drums - UPDATE

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[arkady_renko]

Preliminary testing has detected chemical agents in one of 14 metal drums found in northern Iraq. (ABCNEWS.com)

Suspicious Iraqi Drums Preliminary Testing Suggests Chemical Agents; More Testing Needed N E A R  B A Y J I, Iraq, April 26 — Preliminary testing has detected chemical agents in a 55-gallon drum found in northern Iraq near missiles, warheads and suspicious vehicles, ABCNEWS has learned.

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In recent weeks, U.S. forces have found a number of suspicious containers in Iraq that initial tests suggested contained potentially dangerous chemical agents. But the earlier finds turned out to be false alarms.

However, a Pentagon official said the fact that these chemicals were found with warheads raises the level of interest.

Besides 14 unmarked barrels, one of which was tested, a U.S. Special Forces reconnaissance team on Friday found at least a dozen missiles and 150 gas masks at the site east of Bayji, Iraq, about 130 miles northwest of Baghdad. Also raising suspicions were partially looted vehicles at the site with dosage charts inside.

A platoon of chemical weapons experts from the Army's 1-10 Cavalry was dispatched immediately to check out the discovery, and it took most of the night to secure the area.

This morning, Lt. Valerie Phipps and her squad used three different methods to test liquid from one of the barrels. The preliminary tests showed it to be a mixture of three chemicals, including a nerve agent and blistering agent. Phipps said the tests have an accuracy of 98 percent.

Phipps gave ABCNEWS an exclusive tour of the site.

More Tests Needed

The military plans to conduct further tests on the barrels. An international team of chemical weapons experts is expected to visit the site Sunday.

According to the Pentagon official, the military does not have testing equipment in Iraq that is sophisticated enough to eliminate all pesticides. Because pesticides can give a false positive, anything found will be sent to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland for further testing.

It will take about a week from the time the chemicals are shipped out of Iraq to the time the military has positive identification, the official said.

Missiles and Vehicles

Besides the unmarked barrels that were lying out in the open, missiles — some still in their shipping containers — were visible nearby, along with two specially equipped vehicles that Phipps speculated might be mobile chemical labs.

Looters already had stripped the vehicles of their tires and other portable equipment. But inside were charts listing various dosage levels, a workstation in the back, and in the middle what appeared to be a giant, Russian-made mixing device.

Local residents said the material was dumped at the location by Iraqi troops the day after U.S. forces took Baghdad. They said an Iraqi officer stayed behind and stood watch over the material for two more days.

False Alarms

Despite initial appearances, officials in Washington were stressing caution on the Bayji discovery, particularly in light of earlier false alarms.

On April 7, at an Iraqi military camp near Karbala, U.S. troops discovered two dozen drums that initially tested positive for Sarin and mustard gas. Later, the U.S. military determined the chemicals were pesticides.

On April 10, outside Baghdad, U.S. forces found a mobile radar truck also thought to be a mobile chemical weapons laboratory. It wasn't.

The misinterpretations may have come because some of the same chemicals used to make Sarin, one of the most dangerous nerve agents, and mustard gas, a colorless lethal substance, are also used to make pesticides, chemical weapons experts say.

"The technologies are virtually identical," said Kyle Olson, a terrorism expert and an ABCNEWS consultant. "It's simply a question of changing the recipe."

While U.S. forces have been unable so far to find weapons of mass destruction, they have gas masks, antidotes for chemical weapons, and even some documents that support the notion of an Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program, officials say.

ABCNEWS' David Wright near Bayji, Iraq, and Lisa Sylvester at the Pentagon contributed to this report.

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[arkady_renko]

I Know, I know...

A_R

[ohioWfan]

Inching closer..........we'll get there.

[arkady_renko]

Looters already had stripped the vehicles of their tires and other portable equipment. But inside were charts listing various dosage levels, a workstation in the back, and in the middle what appeared to be a giant, Russian-made mixing device.

Local residents said the material was dumped at the location by Iraqi troops the day after U.S. forces took Baghdad. They said an Iraqi officer stayed behind and stood watch over the material for two more days.

Must have wanted to be sure that nobody mis-used the pesticides in the drums...

A_R

[ohioWfan]

The timing is most interesting.

Dumped by Iraqi troops the day after Baghdad fell?

Seems a bit curious to hide 'bug-killer' and guard it for more than two days when you know your country is in the hands of the infidels, does it not?

[John H K]

This seems much more promising than previous finds.

And they DID end up finding pesticides at the FIRST ballyhooed site; it was an agricultural station, and the drums were rusting, and in more of a trench than "buried."

This seems like a far more military site.

[MississippiMan]

What makes this an update?

MM

[Diogenesis]

========= IRAQI MISSILES AND WMD =========

========= Chemical Warhead found in Kirkuk =============

Chemical warhead at an Iraqi air base, marked with a green band,
the symbol for chemical weaponry. Trace amounts of a nerve agent was found
in two spots on the ~meter long warhead. The amounts could be consistent with
leakage from a chemically armed weapon. A 13-foot missile was found next
to it.

---

In Kerbala, found in an Iraqi military training camp are
banned chemical agents similar to pesticides.
Initial investigations reveal sarin and tabun and the blister agent lewisite.
Non. Mais non? Could that be French on the containers?

---

========= IRAQI MISSILES [So many missed by the Klowns) =========

In central Baghdad, Iraqi missiles are found everywhere.

---

Near Baghdad, US military found and tows an Iraqi missile.

---

Near Baghdad, at a weapons development facility, another Iraqi missile.

---

In Baghdad, captured Iraqi Scud missiles at the the University of Baghdad.

---

In and near Baghdad, more abandoned trailors loaded with Iraqi al-Samoud 2 missiles.

---

In Kerbala, even more Iraqi missiles found.

---

[cardinal4]

Patience. There are there and we will find them. BTW, you have a cool posting name. I have always enjoyed those books. Polar Star was my favorite.

[arkady_renko]

What makes this an update?

I posted a shorter version of this story to this earlier in the day. It had no real details - this is the update to the earlier ABC story. It was also featured on ABC World News Tonight.

A_R

[arkady_renko]

Polar Star was my favorite.

Mine too. Great author.

A_R

[Wolfstar]

The entire country is one vast ammo dump. The late Iraqi regieme didn't care where it placed weapons and most certainly didn't care who they might hurt or kill.

[lstanle]

"The entire country is one vast ammo dump"

I have been shocked at the ammount of explosive "stuff" they had lying around. I'm really grateful that the people were not greatly motivated to us the stuff against coalition forces. I wonder how much food and medicine the money spent on all the military hardware could have bought.

[Bigg Red]

Must have wanted to be sure that nobody mis-used the pesticides in the drums...

Of course, you wouldn't want the innocent cockroaches to be killed by mistake.

[cookcounty]

Seven DAYS??? Blix and Company did their testing in seven MINUTES!

[11th Earl of Mar]

But I'm not believing anything until I hear from DEBKA.

[Rome2000]

The Democrats:

Wrong on the War

Wrong on WMD

Wrong on the Economy

[MississippiMan]

I posted a shorter version of this story to this earlier in the day. It had no real details.

Okay, thanks.

MM

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

These drums could be trouble!

[AgThorn]

They're everywhere, they're everywhere!!!

[American in Israel]

The thing that interests me is how men can exibit the same symptoms of nerve agent on exposure to these "agricultural" agents that are stored with their missile "applicators" and the media still calls them pesticides! Perhaps they think Kurds are pests.

Most of these "pesticides" are found in military bases with special artilery rounds or missiles fitted with chemical dispersing warheads. Perhaps it is a strange form of Farm subsidy, the farmers do not need to spray their crops, The Iraqi army, had missile and artilery applicators...