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  • Possible chemical Weapons found in Iraq

    NEAR BAGHDAD, Iraq — Thousands of boxes of white powder, nerve agent antidote, unidentified liquid and Arabic documents on how to engage in chemical warfare were found by U.S. troops Friday at an industrial site south of Baghdad, a U.S. officer said Friday.

    Col. John Peabody, engineer brigade commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said the materials were found Friday at the Latifiyah industrial complex, about 25 miles south of Baghdad.

    "It is clearly a suspicious site," Peabody said.

    Peabody said troops found thousands of boxes, each of which contained three vials of white powder, together with documents written in Arabic that dealt with how to engage in chemical warfare.

    He also said they discovered atropine, used to counter the effects of nerve agents.

    The plant itself was shown on U.S. military maps as including underground storage facilities, Reuters reported. Some contained liquid, some powder. The books and manuals were in a safe, Captain Kevin Jackson told Reuters near Baghdad.

    "It's unclear at this point what the vials contain and we're sending a team of experts to examine them," Jackson said.

    The facility had been identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a suspected chemical, biological and nuclear weapons site. U.N. inspectors visited the plant at least a dozen times, including as recently as Feb. 18.

    At least one bottle of the deadly chemical weapon, Tabun, was reportedly found. Tabun is a clear, colorless and tasteless liquid with a slightly fruity odor, and is lethal.

    If skin absorption is great enough, death may occur in one to two minutes, or it may be delayed for one to two hours. Lethal respiratory dosages kill in one to 10 minutes, and liquid in the eye kills almost as rapidly.

    The facility is part of a larger complex known as the Latifiyah Explosives and Ammunition Plant al Qa Qaa.

    Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks also told reporters during a U.S. Central Command briefing in Qatar Friday that special forces in Iraq's western desert had found what they believed to be a training school for handling nuclear, chemical and biological warfare.

    During the 1991 Gulf War, U.S. jets bombed the plant.

    On April 1, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, in a statement on Iraqi television, repeated Baghdad's position that it had no weapons on mass destruction. Referring to reports that gas masks and other chemical gear had been found elsewhere in the country, he said the coalition might plant weapons of mass destruction to implicate Iraq.

    "Let me say one more time that Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction," he said. "The aggressors may themselves intend to bring those materials to plant them here and say those are weapons of mass destruction."

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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  • #2
    The white powder was reportedly gun powder, which is no WMD, and the empty container that once contained Tabun (supplied by whom, the USA?) is neither a proof that WMDs are left.

    Sorry folks, did not work out this time!

    Regards,
    Peter

    Comment


    • #3
      Actually:

      Positive test for terror toxins in Iraq
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      • #4
        Nope, only a proof that Iraq once had them. But no proof that they still have them today.

        Regards,
        Peter

        Comment


        • #5
          MSNBC.com finds signs of ricin, botulinum at Islamic militants’ camp

          SARGAT, Iraq, April 4 — MSNBC.com tests reveal evidence of the deadly toxins ricin and botulinum at a laboratory in a remote mountain region of northern Iraq allegedly used as a terrorist training camp by Islamic militants with ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is conducting its own tests at the same area, but has not yet released the results, according to officials in northern Iraq.


          MSNBC.COM’S TESTS were conducted over a two-day period at Sargat, an alleged terrorist training camp a mile from the Iraq-Iran border. The camp, set back in an isolated valley and surrounded by snowcapped peaks, was home to the radical Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam, which counts among its some 700 followers scores of al-Qaida fighters.
          In a Feb. 5 speech to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell showed a satellite photo of the Sargat camp and described Ansar al-Islam as “teaching its operatives how to produce ricin and other poisons.” U.S. officials have repeated the allegations in recent weeks.
          In an operation timed to coincide with the war on Iraq, U.S. special operations forces have targeted Ansar al-Islam’s militants in northern Iraq. Hundreds of Islamists, including al-Qaida fighters who took refuge in northern Iraq after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, have been killed.
          Although U.S. officials for months have leveled charges that the Ansar al-Islam and al-Qaida militants were producing poisons in northern Iraq, it wasn’t until this week that specialist American teams were able to gain access to the Sargat camp to test for traces of biological and chemical weapons.
          Experts believe the Islamic group was producing the substances in the camp as both toxins can be created from everyday products and simple procedures.

          TERRORISTS TEMPTED BY TOXINS
          MSNBC.com’s samples of ricin and botulinum, two deadly biological agents, were taken from the soles of a boot and a shoe recovered from the Sargat camp. The facility has been flattened by several Tomahawk cruise missiles, fired as part of the U.S. campaign against Ansar al-Islam.





          The thick rubber boot twice tested positive for ricin, a toxin derived from castor beans. Ingesting a pinch of ricin, which causes shock and respiratory failure, can kill a human being within 72 hours. There is no cure.
          A black running shoe, shredded by the U.S. bombing, tested positive for botulinum. U.S. officials say terrorists have a particular interest in botulinum and ricin toxins, which may be delivered through release in food and water.
          Botulism, the illness resulting from botulinum ingestion, is a muscle-paralyzing disease that can cause a person to stop breathing and die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
          Since Sept. 11, 2001, law enforcement officials have seen an increase in attempts to produce deadly toxins like ricin and botulinum.
          In Britain, anti-terrorism authorities in January charged four men with producing deadly agents after they found traces of ricin in a north London apartment. More than a dozen arrests have been made in the investigation.

          On Thursday, the FBI issued a warning to Americans that deadly agents like ricin and botulinum could be used to contaminate the nation’s water or food supply.
          And in France, police are on alert after recently finding traces of ricin in flasks in a train station locker in Paris.
          The territory of northern Iraq where the traces of ricin were detected is not under the control of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
          Baghdad admitted to U.N. weapons inspectors in the 1990s that it had successfully weaponized ricin, botulinum and anthrax. There is no immediate evidence that suggests Saddam’s regime provided the easily produced toxins to Ansar al-Islam or al-Qaida.
          A test for anthrax at the Sargat camp gave a negative result.


          WIDELY USED TEST
          The tests, developed by Osborn Scientific Group in Lakeside, Ariz., are widely admired by experts. Called BioWarfare Agent Detection Devices, they were used by U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq before their departure ahead of the U.S.-led war against Saddam.
          Dr. Robert Bohannon, the inventor of the test, said in a phone interview that numerous U.S. federal agencies employ the tests in the field. He said the tests were developed to give a rapid “yes-no” result.
          In recent days, specialist chemical-biological survey teams, some from the CIA, have collected samples from camps used by Islamic militants in northern Iraq. At least two teams visited the Sargat camp, taking similar rapid fields tests and collecting samples to be sent to the United States for further analysis, according to U.S. special operations forces officers speaking on condition of anonymity in northern Iraq.
          “To swab a boot is perfectly acceptable,” Bohannon said. ”[The test] will tell you with almost 100 percent certainty if it is ricin or botulinum. There is a high probability they were there.”
          Fly Raleigh-Durham International, with direct flights on Air Canada, AirTran, American Airlines, American Eagle, America West, Continental Airlines, Continental Express, Delta Airlines, Delta Connection, jetBlue, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Express and US Airways to:

          ATL, AUS, BWI, BOS, CHS, CLT, MDW, ORD, CVG, CLE, DFW, DTW, FLL, BDL, HOU, IND, LAS, LAX, LGW, MEM, MIA, MSP, BNA, EWR, MSY, JFK, LGA, ORF, MCO, PHL, PHX, PIT, STL, SLC, TPA, YYZ, DCA and IAD.

          Comment


          • #6
            MSNBC.com finds signs of ricin, botulinum at Islamic militants’ camp

            SARGAT, Iraq, April 4 — MSNBC.com tests reveal evidence of the deadly toxins ricin and botulinum at a laboratory in a remote mountain region of northern Iraq allegedly used as a terrorist training camp by Islamic militants with ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is conducting its own tests at the same area, but has not yet released the results, according to officials in northern Iraq.


            MSNBC.COM’S TESTS were conducted over a two-day period at Sargat, an alleged terrorist training camp a mile from the Iraq-Iran border. The camp, set back in an isolated valley and surrounded by snowcapped peaks, was home to the radical Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam, which counts among its some 700 followers scores of al-Qaida fighters.
            In a Feb. 5 speech to the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell showed a satellite photo of the Sargat camp and described Ansar al-Islam as “teaching its operatives how to produce ricin and other poisons.” U.S. officials have repeated the allegations in recent weeks.
            In an operation timed to coincide with the war on Iraq, U.S. special operations forces have targeted Ansar al-Islam’s militants in northern Iraq. Hundreds of Islamists, including al-Qaida fighters who took refuge in northern Iraq after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, have been killed.
            Although U.S. officials for months have leveled charges that the Ansar al-Islam and al-Qaida militants were producing poisons in northern Iraq, it wasn’t until this week that specialist American teams were able to gain access to the Sargat camp to test for traces of biological and chemical weapons.
            Experts believe the Islamic group was producing the substances in the camp as both toxins can be created from everyday products and simple procedures.

            TERRORISTS TEMPTED BY TOXINS
            MSNBC.com’s samples of ricin and botulinum, two deadly biological agents, were taken from the soles of a boot and a shoe recovered from the Sargat camp. The facility has been flattened by several Tomahawk cruise missiles, fired as part of the U.S. campaign against Ansar al-Islam.





            The thick rubber boot twice tested positive for ricin, a toxin derived from castor beans. Ingesting a pinch of ricin, which causes shock and respiratory failure, can kill a human being within 72 hours. There is no cure.
            A black running shoe, shredded by the U.S. bombing, tested positive for botulinum. U.S. officials say terrorists have a particular interest in botulinum and ricin toxins, which may be delivered through release in food and water.
            Botulism, the illness resulting from botulinum ingestion, is a muscle-paralyzing disease that can cause a person to stop breathing and die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
            Since Sept. 11, 2001, law enforcement officials have seen an increase in attempts to produce deadly toxins like ricin and botulinum.
            In Britain, anti-terrorism authorities in January charged four men with producing deadly agents after they found traces of ricin in a north London apartment. More than a dozen arrests have been made in the investigation.

            On Thursday, the FBI issued a warning to Americans that deadly agents like ricin and botulinum could be used to contaminate the nation’s water or food supply.
            And in France, police are on alert after recently finding traces of ricin in flasks in a train station locker in Paris.
            The territory of northern Iraq where the traces of ricin were detected is not under the control of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
            Baghdad admitted to U.N. weapons inspectors in the 1990s that it had successfully weaponized ricin, botulinum and anthrax. There is no immediate evidence that suggests Saddam’s regime provided the easily produced toxins to Ansar al-Islam or al-Qaida.
            A test for anthrax at the Sargat camp gave a negative result.


            WIDELY USED TEST
            The tests, developed by Osborn Scientific Group in Lakeside, Ariz., are widely admired by experts. Called BioWarfare Agent Detection Devices, they were used by U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq before their departure ahead of the U.S.-led war against Saddam.
            Dr. Robert Bohannon, the inventor of the test, said in a phone interview that numerous U.S. federal agencies employ the tests in the field. He said the tests were developed to give a rapid “yes-no” result.
            In recent days, specialist chemical-biological survey teams, some from the CIA, have collected samples from camps used by Islamic militants in northern Iraq. At least two teams visited the Sargat camp, taking similar rapid fields tests and collecting samples to be sent to the United States for further analysis, according to U.S. special operations forces officers speaking on condition of anonymity in northern Iraq.
            “To swab a boot is perfectly acceptable,” Bohannon said. ”[The test] will tell you with almost 100 percent certainty if it is ricin or botulinum. There is a high probability they were there.”
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            Comment


            • #7
              Those militant islamic groups have nothing to do with the official Iraq of Saddam Hussaein. These groups have been using the border region between Iraq, Iran and possible Turkey for quite some time, and are beyond the control of any of the governments mentioned. Involvement of the Curds is possible, though, but again they are the official enemies of those governments.

              Finding chemical weapons in this area, and under control of the militias, is still no proof that the official Iraq, against whom the war is directed, has any WMDs.

              It is both, ashaming and amazing what stories are brought up by the USA to desperately proof that their war is rightful.

              Regards,
              Peter

              Comment


              • #8
                But, at the "suspected" site that we found today, we found some Tabun, a deadly chemical weapon.
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                • #9
                  According to the information I have got, that container ONCE contained Tabun, but was now empty. That's a huge difference.

                  Regards,
                  Peter

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    This is the information I got:

                    At least one bottle of the deadly chemical weapon, Tabun, was reportedly found. Tabun is a clear, colorless and tasteless liquid with a slightly fruity odor, and is lethal.
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                    • #11
                      It was a bottle labelled 'Tabun', and may contain rests of the substance, but it was basically empty.

                      Regards,
                      Peter

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Still, it shows what they have been working on. Who knows, there could be thousands of bottles of tabun sitting in some factory in the desert, just waiting for us to find them. BTW- according to my info we still haven't identified what we found at the plant near baghdad.
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                        • #13
                          Yes, there could be plenty of other bottles somewhere else, but as of now there is no proof of that. And they worked on such things, this is well known, but still we lack the knowledge whether the weapons were destroyed or still exist.

                          Regards,
                          Peter

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Just out of curiosity, if we did find a huge stoclpile of chemical or biological weapons that could be used against us, what would you say? Would you still be opposed to this war?
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                            • #15
                              Yes, by all means!

                              If these weapons are used against you now, then they are because you invaded Iraq.

                              Regards,
                              Peter

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