BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - An artillery round that contained the deadly nerve gas sarin exploded in Baghdad over the weekend, exposing two American soldiers to mild nerve poisoning, the U.S.-led coalition announced Monday.
It was the first such chemical exposure since U.S. troops entered Iraq more than a year ago in an invasion that the Bush administration claimed was justified in part because Saddam Hussein had stockpiled thousands of such weapons. Earlier this month, a shell with residue of another chemical agent, mustard, was found by a bomb demolition team but was disarmed before it exploded.
Geez. Mustard gas and sarin? Unless Osama somehow persuaded Allah to drop these WMDs from the sky for the sake of jihad against the "Crusaders", I'm guessing these bad boys were home-grown. In other words, it looks like the terrorists have had better luck uncovering secret caches of Saddam's WMDs than the Coalition has.
But, hey, what's important is: BUSH LIED!
AL-QAEDA LINKED terrorists were plotting to detonate a large-scale chemical bomb in Jordan that could have killed up to 20,000 people, plus also attack the US embassy and Prime Minister's office with poison gas, officials said yesterday.
Officials close to the investigation said several terror suspects arrested in Jordan last month had confessed that the plots were hatched by Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, thought to be a close associate of al-Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden.
The officials said the terrorist cell was planning to attack Jordan's secret service, the General Intelligence Department, with a chemical bomb that would have killed up to 20,000 people and caused large-scale destruction within 1km.
The report continues:
Jordanian officials say the arrests occurred after suspected militants entered Jordan from neighbouring Syria in at least three vehicles filled with explosives, detonators and raw material to be used in bomb-making.
So. It seems at least plausible (if not outright probable) that Saddam sent some of his WMDs to his Ba'athist pals in Syria prior to the US-led invasion. And now Syria is handing them off to anti-Coalition terrorists.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Natalie Davis
BFD. The US, which many consider as terrorist as the Saddam Hussein regime, has WMDs. If the Shrub's "war" was justified -- which I am convinced it wasn't -- it would only be fair if someone invaded and occupied your country.
2 - johnboy
The weapons might well have been sent to Syria, but they wouldn't have been noticed in the existing, enourmous, syrian chemical arsenal.
My personal bet is that Saddam honestly thought he had massive programs and his boffins were blowing the dough on cocaine and hookers.
Intelligence agencies always err on the side of caution, ie they assess enemy threats to be as grave as possible.
The job of our leaders is not to take the information blindly but to apply real thought to it, and to get it from multiple sources with different agendas.
And as for the use of intelligence data in public debate, it's a silly joke. The sort of bollocks Blair dreams up because he belives he's a bloke everyone should trust.
It's like accepting the results of a survey without access to the methodology.
3 - bhw
In other words, it looks like the terrorists have had better luck uncovering secret caches of Saddam's WMDs than the Coalition has.
Are two bombs a "secret cache"?
4 - Mrs.O'Leary
What if Bill clinton was the current president...
http://www.subliminabableconservative.50megs.com
5 - Mark Saleski
secret cache?
it was fun watching the headline on foxnews this afternoon.
first is was "WMDs FOUND IN IRAQ!!!"
...later downgraded to "Sarin, Mustard gas found in Iraq"
a little decidin' before reportin'
6 - RJ Elliott
Uh, aren't mustard gas and sarin Weapons of Mass Destruction...?
7 - Shark
They "found" a sarin-filled artillery shell left over from the mid-1980s. I'll be the first to admit that was worth over 700 lives and $150 billion.
But thanks just the same, George!
I feel SO MUCH FUCKING SAFER NOW.
8 - bhw
The war wasn't predicated on two 15-year-old bomb, RJ. We were told there were "stockpiles" of actual working WMDs that put us -- sitting over here at out computers in the USA -- in danger.
Since the war started [and ended!] over a year ago, we have found two bombs [well, techincally someone else found them].
Even Rummy doesn't think these two bombs qualify as the WMDs discussed before the war. Why do you?
9 - Shark
...Even Rummy doesn't think these two bombs qualify as the WMDs discussed before the war. Why do you?"
Elliott is apparently auditioning for a job with the Administration.
You should see his resume:
"Best attribute: gleefully celebrates tiny justifications for massive blunders."
Hire that boy!
10 - Hal Pawluk
Uh, aren't mustard gas and sarin Weapons of Mass Destruction
Not really.
When Saddam dropped tons of chemical bombs on the Kurds back in the 1980's he managed to kill a few hundred people.
That wasn't a great thing to do, but he had a great deal of difficulty in killing "masses," thankfully, because chemical weapons of any sort are hard to deploy predictably and effectively, even if you can get them to actually work (tons of info on the web if you're interested).
11 - RJ Elliott
Do you assume that the two weapons found thus far are the ONLY two weapons in Iraq?
So, if I go to the beach with a metal detector and find a nickel, am I to assume that is the only hidden cash (get it? cash? cache???) to be found at the beach?
Oh, nevermind. BUSH LIED!
12 - RJ Elliott
Hal,
Quote:
"AL-QAEDA LINKED terrorists were plotting to detonate a large-scale chemical bomb in Jordan that could have killed up to 20,000 people, plus also attack the US embassy and Prime Minister's office with poison gas, officials said yesterday."
Sounds like mass destruction to me...and with those silly insignificant chemical weapons too!
WMDs are defined as chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. Sarin and mustard gas are chemical weapons. We found them in Iraq.
Any questions?
13 - RJ Elliott
"When Saddam dropped tons of chemical bombs on the Kurds back in the 1980's he managed to kill a few hundred people."
"A few hundred people" sounds like "mass destruction" to me...
14 - Shark
RJ, please do us a favor and go to the beach with a metal detector.
(Preferably the Isla de Vieques in Puerto Rico.)
15 - RJ Elliott
Hmm. You want me to discover unexploded ordinance? And die?
That's awfully cruel, Shark. My feelings are hurt. :-[
16 - bhw
WMDs are defined as chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. Sarin and mustard gas are chemical weapons. We found them in Iraq.
We found TWO. We've been looking for over a year [and still are looking]. The reports are that these were leftover from Saddam's regime, as opposed to newly minted by the "insurgents". They may or may not have been slated for destruction under Saddam.
But again, not a "cache" and certainly not a "stockpile" or imminent threat. The Bushies are being very careful not to jump all over these TWO bombs as evidence that the stockpiles actually existed. As of Sunday -- after the sarin gas bomb incident had occurred --Powell was still saying that the stockpiles don't seem to exist.
We did not go into Iraq to find traces of a former chemical weapons program. We went in, allegedly, to find a very active, well stocked program.
17 - bhw
Do you assume that the two weapons found thus far are the ONLY two weapons in Iraq?
I assume that there are more, but that the alleged and well-marketed stockpiles and imminent, large-scale threat to the US are nonexistent.
The way I see it: Hussein either a) dismantled his weapons program as he said he did (and some of the weapons were stolen), or b) thought he still had and was paying for an active program but was being conned by his own underlings.
18 - RJ Elliott
The reports are that these were leftover from Saddam's regime, as opposed to newly minted by the "insurgents".
That's my point...
19 - Hal Pawluk
No questions, RJ, but I do have some answers and a big tip: Learn to parse propaganda.
When someone says "could have killed up to 20,000 people," you should realize that they could also mean as few as three people. Or maybe even none. Chemical weapons are difficult to deploy effectively. Really difficult.
Parsing the propaganda is kind of like paying attention to advertising - you need to develop an ear for the "weasel words." During this administration, Americans have been getting a lot of material to practice with, if only they paid attention.
20 - boomcrashbaby
The mustard gas found was miniscule and contaminated (non-effective). It was about the equivalent of one bomb, wasn't it? The pretense for going to war was that there are 80 tons of mustard gas unaccounted for.
Fox news is reporting that the antidote for the sarin is so effective that sarin is no longer considered a wartime threat (although against civilians would of course be different). But the sarin found was in one bomb, right?
Hopefully these can be traced to Saddam, as it would be a start in helping to justify the pretext for war and would be a start in us gaining some credibility in the world again. But such a small amount could have easily been smuggled over the border. Only time will tell. Some people I know (offline) are already assuming it's a plant by the administration. Not likely, I'd think though, but you never know.
Right now, to say that we've found the WMD, will make us look like we're accusing someone of running a meth lab out of their home, and then saying 'aha!' when we find a single tablet of speed under their mattress.
It's far too early to make judgement.
21 - bhw
But we need many, many, many more of them to be significant, RJ. We KNOW Hussein had a weapons program at one time. If he still had one as of a year ago, we would have found more than two by now, don't you think? You don't think there are still old US munitions lying around in this country, stuff that people can't account for?
22 - RJ Elliott
ME: Do you assume that the two weapons found thus far are the ONLY two weapons in Iraq?
BHW: I assume that there are more
THANK YOU!
BHW: but that the alleged and well-marketed stockpiles and imminent, large-scale threat to the US are nonexistent.
BUSH NEVER SAID "IMMINENT."
BHW: The way I see it: Hussein either a) dismantled his weapons program as he said he did (and some of the weapons were stolen), or b) thought he still had and was paying for an active program but was being conned by his own underlings.
IF "B", DO YOU THINK THE WORLD WOULD BE SAFER IF HE WAS STILL IN POWER? IF "A", WHY DIDN'T HE GIVE AN ACCURATE ACCOUNTING TO THE UNITED NATIONS?
23 - RJ Elliott
"Some people I know (offline) are already assuming it's a plant by the administration."
Well, of course, because: BUSH LIED and BUSH IS A FASCIST!
24 - bhw
Forget the "Bush never said 'imminent'" argument. We've been over that, and you know that others in his administration said "imminent" [Rummy!] and that Bush used every other synonym in his very limited vocabulary.
You're trying to split hairs to "win" a debate on a technicality.
Technically, Bush never used the word imminent. Technically, we found a weapon of mass destruction.
Neither of these technicalities have any significance once they are put into context in the real world.
25 - RJ Elliott
Saddam had many, many months to bury/export his WMDs before the US invasion. Because, you know, the US and UK were busy dickering with the UN...
I don't believe these WMDs were manufactureed one at a time. They were made in large numbers.
It's like a roach: If you see one in your kitchen, there are doubtless hundreds more that you don't see. Same with WMDs.
So. Iraq War Positives:
Saddam in prison, check
Saddam's sons dead, check
WMDs found, check
Iraq moving towards quasi-democracy, check
John F-ing Kerry still an asshole, check
Okay. Bush wins re-election. Thanks for playing! :-]