NERVE GAS MYSTERY

New York Post ^ | 10/28/02 | BRAD HUNTER

[kattracks]

October 28, 2002 -- Two days after a daring rescue at a Moscow theater turned into a massacre, Russia is coming under fire for apparently using a secret - and deadly - nerve gas to thwart the terrorists.

Yevgeny Yevdokimov, Moscow's chief anesthesiologist, described the gas as an incapacitating agent used as an anesthetic.

[wastoute]

LOL, if I remember correctly WE invented BZ. Moreover it AIN'T "nerve gas". And I don't think there is an antidote. I suppose Valium would make it a little more tolerable. I would be surprised if it killed people, though.

[abclily]

Of course, Russia has the right to homeland security. And Russia does not answer to our journalists - lucky for them.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

It seems the media is more interested in the tactics used by Russian special forces than the tactics used by the Islamist special forces.

[isiti]

As always!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Maybe they expect Russia to be halfway civilized. They know al Qaeda are thugs.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The Islamist terrorists were prepared to blow up the theatre and all the hostages at dawn on Saturday. The Russians took the threat seriously and responded in a "civilized" manner, IMO.

[tom paine 2]

The smell of almonds indicates a cyanide type of gas.

[2sheep]

>It seems the media is more interested in the tactics used by Russian special forces than the tactics used by the Islamist special forces.

Exactly!  The Islam murderers could have turned the theatre into a flaming bus.  The Russians did well to prevent that.  The world should butt out of minding Russia's laws and censure the lawless ones, the Chechans, who created the problem.

[CatoRenasci]

Agreed. The loss of life was tragic. The alternatives were not acceptable: captitulation to terrorists or the death of all 800+ hostages. The Russians had the guts to make a decision. I am disgusted at the Monday morning quarterbacks who refuse to understand the gravity of the situation.

[Dudoight]

Absolutely! If only a fifth of the hostages survive, it will still be more than if the terrorists would have allowed to act on their plan. Amnesty International needs to focus on Mugabwe, Zimbabwe...

[grania]

The world should butt out of minding Russia's laws and censure the lawless ones, the Chechans, who created the problem.

Exactly. At least this solution gave the hostages a chance. What chance did they have if the hostages blew up the building? At least this way help was able to get to them.

[dennisw]

Too many Russians are now dead and permanently disabled, a burden on society. It's time for Russia to seek and destroy the families of this Jihadist filth and to raze family dwellings. It's the only language the scum understand. Even send assassination teams abroad to hit the families of the foreign Jihadists. It's an outrage that Arabs are making Jihad on Russian soil.

[genefromjersey]

Oh my goodness ! Doesn't everybody KNOW the kindly, lovable Russian people don't possess any chemical weapons ????

How do I know that ?

The Federation of American Scientists said so.
Repeatedly.
Kept saying so, even when the Russians were using a lethal agent called "Yellow Rain" in Afghanistan.
Kept saying so by their silence when the friendly natives of Uzbekistan proudly displayed the Russian Chemical and Biological warfare labs that had been left behind.

I assume the revelation Russia has vast stockpiles of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons will be blamed upon the Foul Counter-Revolutionaries who took over in kindly, peace-loving, admirable Mother Russia.

After all, the FAS couldn't have been wrong !!!

[Poohbah]

Yup, we invented BZ.

It was one of Uncle Sam's dumber ideas.

Take someone who probably has a ton of adrenalin in their system--and give them a hallucinogenic.

<1960s flashback>

There's a recipe for a REALLY bad trip, man...

</1960s flashback>

[Aquinasfan]

It's a good thing that we're important issues. Not the fact that this is yet another incident of barbaric Mohammedan violence.

[johnb838]

I heard one account that stated that many people vomited after passing out and choked on the vomitus.

[Brad C.]

I noted that none of the SF troops going into or coming out of the building were wearing gas masks. I would think that if it was a life threatening nerve gas or other chemical agent that the troops would have been protected. After all, you don't want the rescue troops dropping like flies before they get the mission done.

[asformeandformyhouse]

The smell of almonds indicates a cyanide type of gas.

And the smell of peanuts means Jimmy Carter has arrived on the scene.

[antidisestablishment]

Whatever the press says, the resolution to this crisis was much better than anyone expected. Those of us who were monitoring this situtation all last week expected 80+% casualties.

Those terrorists wanted to make a statement by their deaths. Ironically they did: Don't mess with Spetsnaz.