Sorry, I am just not impressed by Sarin. Again, it can be made in anyones garage with off the shelf chemicals. With two clicks of the mouse, you can find the ingredients. Even the small wacko group in Japan stated they found it easy to obtain and use. That is why I am not impressed.
well - two to five liters of the stuff in an airburst 155mm shell is not grounds for superpower war - but the dishonesty behind its very existence in the face of UN resolutions tracing back through a dozen UN resolutions could prove to be the first step in our long slow march back to reality since the invasion in 2003.
From what I remember of that cult in Japan was that it did take them a few attempts to get the mix right but essentially you are correct- anyone determined enough could make this stuff. And without a complex delivery system it is hardly a WMD. A fertilizer truck bomb is more deadly.
I DO care that you're trying to sidline the issue from the real significance :
This was one of Saddam's mass manufactured WMD, made to be fired from a 155mm Howitzer - not exactly as easy for the home wacko to manufacture in his garage. Saddam is known to have had them. The UN demanded Saddam report what he did with his weapons stockpiles.
Saddam said in his 10,000 page report to the UN the stockpile of that particular 155mm Howitzer shell, specially manufactured to be a WMD, was destroyed before the Gulf War. That he no longer had them. He still had them.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/sarin/basics/facts.asp
Immediate signs and symptoms of sarin exposure
* People may not know that they were exposed because sarin has no odor.
* People exposed to a low or moderate dose of sarin by breathing contaminated air, eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water, or touching contaminated surfaces may experience some or all of the following symptoms within seconds to hours of exposure:
* Runny nose
* Watery eyes
* Small, pinpoint pupils
* Eye pain
* Blurred vision
* Drooling and excessive sweating
* Cough
* Chest tightness
* Rapid breathing
* Diarrhea
* Increased urination
* Confusion
* Drowsiness
* Weakness
* Headache
* Nausea, vomiting, and/or abdominal pain
* Slow or fast heart rate
* Low or high blood pressure
* Even a small drop of sarin on the skin can cause sweating and muscle twitching where sarin touched the skin.
* Exposure to large doses of sarin by any route may result in the following harmful health effects:
* Loss of consciousness
* Convulsions
* Paralysis
* Respiratory failure possibly leading to death
* Showing these signs and symptoms does not necessarily mean that a person has been exposed to sarin.
What the long-term health effects are
Mild or moderately exposed people usually recover completely. Severely exposed people are not likely to survive.
Unlike some organophosphate pesticides, nerve agents have not been associated with neurological problems lasting more than 1 to 2 weeks after the exposure.