Another WMD terrorist attack on Iraqi civilians.
al-Qaida likely suspects.
By Moe Lane Posted in Foreign Affairs — Comments (21) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
The only saving grace is that it could have easily been worse:
Chlorine bombers sicken hundreds in Iraq
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 29 minutes agoBAGHDAD - Three suicide bombers driving trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas struck targets in heavily Sunni Anbar province including the office of a Sunni tribal leader opposed to al-Qaida. The attacks killed at least two people and sickened 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops, the U.S. military said Saturday.
There is a mounting power struggle between insurgents and the growing number of Sunnis who oppose them in Anbar, the center of the Sunni insurgency, which stretches from Baghdad to the borders with Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The Anbar assaults came three days after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, traveled there to reach out to Sunni clan chiefs in a bid to undermine tribal support for the insurgency.
Read on.
There is too much anger in my heart at those who perpetrated this atrocity for me to write of it calmly. Bill Roggio and Ace of Spades are reporting on this; please check them for updates.
As always, our prayers and good wishes to the victims of this attack. And our contempt for the cowards who harmed them.
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Another WMD terrorist attack on Iraqi civilians. 21 Comments (0 topical, 21 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Not readily available at the local market. Of course we know there's none of that kind of stuff hidden in Iraq.
...WMD (and potential WMD) go. It's as perfect an example of a "dual use" item as you can find, and thus can be very difficult to control, to secure, or to prevent from being used as a weapon. All that's really needed to convert nonthreatenting, civilian-use Cl2 into a weapon is, in essence, a dispersion device.
This was nowhere near the first instance of such an attack with dual-use chemicals, and I don't expect it to be the last.
Concentrated bleach and anhydrous Ammonia.
Table Salt, water, and an electric current.
There is literally no way to prevent people from getting it.
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"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
That if Iraq or Iran obtained WMD or nukes they wouldn't use them ? That having them to be in the club was what they wanted ? I think these people have just refuted that argument.
I hope the perps receive justice in the traditional fashion of the region.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
We all were fascinated by MacGyver. Well, MacGyver is alive and well. It is very easy to home cook simple chemicals like this.
The hard part is in dispersion. A crude bomb works, but a crop duster works better! A crop duster of chlorine over New York City is a scary thought. Not many deaths, but a lot of sick people!
Imagine a group of guys buying a bottle of bleach here, another guy buying a bottle of ammonia there. They go from place to place over a series of days. Then you have what you need.
The subway bombers in London used a home made bomb formula that is nothing more than purified hydrogen peroxide. It is very unstable and very explosive. ...and it can be made from store bought chemicals!
This only scratches the surface of the possibilities.
Wubbies World - The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you actually aim for it!
Maybe, but if any of that gets into the cockpit with you, your mission and your landing will be less than desired.
if it somehow gets in the cockpit you wouldn't reach your target. It comes in compressed cylinders and disperses fairly quickly. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, just more trouble than its worth if your objective is to kill.
I live in South Dakota and needless to say, there are lots of farms, and lots of crops being grown around here. Crop dusting is fairly routine in these parts. Now, the spraying systems on these planes are self contained tank systems, because the plane manufacturers, and the crop dust chemical manufacturers do not want to be sued because a lot of the crop dusting pilots get sick and die from being exposed to the chemicals.
So, needless to say, the pilots are safe. The chemicals get sprayed very efficiently, and the job gets done, day in and day out, and no one gets sick from it. Why? Because they are built to ensure safety.
Spraying "Chlorine Gas" is a very easy thing to do with these planes, and the pilot will still make it home to a nice home cooked dinner at the end of the day with no ill effects.
Wubbies World - The odds of hitting your target go up dramatically when you actually aim for it!
from farm country myself and agree you could make it work but why? See above.
Imagine how worried average Iraqis would be (if they're not already) at the thought of having to carry gas masks around every day. Talk about a way to rattle and destabilize a society.
Here's a great chance for nations unwilling to send troops to Iraq to get involved: send gas masks for the Iraqi populace.
The British gave masks to their citizens during WWII. The Israelis do it now.
PLENTY of countries manufacture gas masks. Fine! Open up some of those warehouses and start shipping masks to Iraq.
You may not approve of BusHitler's war...but you certainly don't begrudge the average Iraqi his right to breathe, right?
Here's a great way for spineles...er, sophisticated nations to do some good in Iraq.
"Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?" (Macaulay)
is another "saving grace" to this, it smacks of desperation on the part of the terrorists, using this horrible and horribly indiscriminate tactic.
Thus, they do not exist.
There are no terrorists, there, either, remember? It's just a sectarian civil war that we stupidly got ourselves in the middle of and/or caused.
Spraying chlorine gas by cropdusters is a highly inefficient method of disperion. Even a very low level pass will probably produce a gas cloud that is so dispersed that few if any people will suffer ill effects. The gas bombs ( i.e. Tank trucks filled with chlorine) are effective only if they can be exploded within a large crowd and, yet, are not as effective as a simular weight of high explosive.
to those who enable the terrorists to do things like this. Specifically, the fools who showed up to "protest" in DC and the Congressional Democrats.
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Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged. — J. Michael Waller