CNN: Missles with nerve agents found

[charrison]

link

link

Hopefully they are not jumping the gun like the other finds have been so far....

 

[Grey]

I would wait on celebrating. Traces could be from anything if the missile actually is loaded with the stuff and tests positive then we thumb our noses at the world.

 

[Tab]

I wonder what the liberals will say... Those missles look like they are in prime condition to me, doesnt look like its any pre-1991 stuff to me.

 

[Bowfinger]

Just for accuracy's sake, they found ONE warhead that showed a "trace amount" of a nerve agent. This was one warhead out of 20-some (IIRC) they found at this location.

CNN also reports that the (now-former) Iraqi commander of this airbase near Kirkuk came forward and told U.S. forces that there are "120 missles within about an 18 mile radius of Kirkuk - 24 of those carrying chemical munitions." This is currently the lead story on the CNN web site.

Further testing is planned to confirm this report.

 

[Napalm]

LOL. One warhead with "trace" amounts of chemical weapons. Well that justification enough for me to bomb the crap out of Iraq. They can forget their plans of planting this stuff now...

N

 

[mastertech01]

We have already found that initial field tests arent worth jack. Wait till REAL testing can be done. One thing is for sure, and that is we need to investigate why so many false positives are coming back with test equipment that was designed to protect our soldiers in case of a real attack. More high dollar JUNK purchased by DOD.

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: mastertech01
We have already found that initial field tests arent worth jack. Wait till REAL testing can be done. One thing is for sure, and that is we need to investigate why so many false positives are coming back with test equipment that was designed to protect our soldiers in case of a real attack. More high dollar JUNK purchased by DOD.

I think all the false positives are really by design. We want our field testing gear to be extremely sensitive so we don't miss anything. Think of the risks of a less-sensitive test that produced false negatives. We might lose a bunch of troops because someone overconfidently opened a "safe" barrel or warhead.

According to the article, the outside of this one warhead tested at "1" on a 1 to 6 scale. They are properly calling for better tests to confirm or refute the preliminary findings. Also note that they've only tested the outside of the warhead so far. It is fully possible that the warhead is filled with a nerve agent. Of course it's also possible that some soldier accidently sprayed it with a shot of Raid while trying to kill a spider. We'll just have to see what they find.

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: mastertech01
We have already found that initial field tests arent worth jack. Wait till REAL testing can be done. One thing is for sure, and that is we need to investigate why so many false positives are coming back with test equipment that was designed to protect our soldiers in case of a real attack. More high dollar JUNK purchased by DOD.

During the last Gulf War there were a lot of false positives, too, and IIRC we went in this time with just about the same equipment

 

[UltraQuiet]

04/12/2003 1:30 PM (NEW!)



Quote

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: mastertech01
We have already found that initial field tests arent worth jack. Wait till REAL testing can be done. One thing is for sure, and that is we need to investigate why so many false positives are coming back with test equipment that was designed to protect our soldiers in case of a real attack. More high dollar JUNK purchased by DOD.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I think all the false positives are really by design. We want our field testing gear to be extremely sensitive so we don't miss anything. Think of the risks of a less-sensitive test that produced false negatives. We might lose a bunch of troops because someone overconfidently opened a "safe" barrel or warhead.

That's exactly right. We want to be very conservative in this endeavor. It is not the tests that are the problem. It is the media that is hedging their bets trying to be the first ones to report that WMD has been found.

 

[Jmmsbnd007]

Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Just for accuracy's sake, they found ONE warhead that showed a "trace amount" of a nerve agent. This was one warhead out of 20-some (IIRC) they found at this location.

CNN also reports that the (now-former) Iraqi commander of this airbase near Kirkuk came forward and told U.S. forces that there are "120 missles within about an 18 mile radius of Kirkuk - 24 of those carrying chemical munitions." This is currently the lead story on the CNN web site.

Further testing is planned to confirm this report.

Trace amount while scanning the outside. They're not stupid enough to open it up and look inside. It's consistent with the chemical leakage, they say.

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: DaveSohmer
It is not the tests that are the problem. It is the media that is hedging their bets trying to be the first ones to report that WMD has been found.

Amen!

 

[Alistar7]

What is more interesting is in the city of Kirkuk the former military base commander, who was in prison, approached US forces and offered to lead them to 120 missiles, with up to 24 possibly possibly with WMD.
In another northern city yesterday residents welcomed tropps and offered to show them where some Al Samouds were being hidden behinda soccer field.

I noticed Ari Fleischer got some flack over his comments yesterday, even noticed one of our more"esteemed" members quoted him out of context on this subject. Interestingly enough a former UN weapons inspectors agrees, the likelyhood is we will be led to these WMD by Iraqi citrizens, not find them ourselves. Thankfully they seem to be more than happy to help.

The Iraqi former chief scientist recently surrendered as well, stil claiming as he had to the UN Iraq has NO banned weapons, I guess the ones they launched at kuwait slipped his mind.....

Remember those "freedom fighters" that came to Iraq's aid? The citizens of Baghdad have taken it upon themselves to rid their own society of these cowards. They even VOLUNTEERED to take care of this for the US. You can read about that here...

In the densely populated northeastern slum area of Saddam City, U.S. Marines pulled back to allow local people to hunt "mujahideen" volunteer fighters holed up in the area.

That story reminds me of the quarter of the cirty that was cleared of Fedayeen by Iraqi citizens the night before the big celebration in Baghdad..

I guess they don't like terrorists either....

 

[Bowfinger]

Update:

CNN just reported that a second set of tests on this warhead were negative. They are calling in another team who can open the warhead and perform more sophisticated testing.

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Update:

CNN just reported that a second set of tests on this warhead were negative. They are calling in another team who can open the warhead and perform more sophisticated testing.

In what appears to be complete denial of the anit-war crowd, it has been effectively proven Saddam hid and purchased banned weaopons during the sanctions period. Do any of you even know HOW he gassed the kurds? You can use artillery to launch WMD.

 

[Squisher]

I'm sure we'll will find WMD. Give them time.

We might need CSI, but they are there.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: Alistar7

Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Update:

CNN just reported that a second set of tests on this warhead were negative. They are calling in another team who can open the warhead and perform more sophisticated testing.

In what appears to be complete denial of the anit-war crowd, it has been effectively proven Saddam hid and purchased banned weaopons during the sanctions period. Do any of you even know HOW he gassed the kurds? You can use artillery to launch WMD.

I thought he gassed them by flying over and spraying them.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
What is more interesting is in the city of Kirkuk the former military base commander, who was in prison, approached US forces and offered to lead them to 120 missiles, with up to 24 possibly possibly with WMD.
In another northern city yesterday residents welcomed tropps and offered to show them where some Al Samouds were being hidden behinda soccer field.

I noticed Ari Fleischer got some flack over his comments yesterday, even noticed one of our more"esteemed" members quoted him out of context on this subject. Interestingly enough a former UN weapons inspectors agrees, the likelyhood is we will be led to these WMD by Iraqi citrizens, not find them ourselves. Thankfully they seem to be more than happy to help.

The Iraqi former chief scientist recently surrendered as well, stil claiming as he had to the UN Iraq has NO banned weapons, I guess the ones they launched at kuwait slipped his mind.....

Remember those "freedom fighters" that came to Iraq's aid? The citizens of Baghdad have taken it upon themselves to rid their own society of these cowards. They even VOLUNTEERED to take care of this for the US. You can read about that here...

In the densely populated northeastern slum area of Saddam City, U.S. Marines pulled back to allow local people to hunt "mujahideen" volunteer fighters holed up in the area.

That story reminds me of the quarter of the cirty that was cleared of Fedayeen by Iraqi citizens the night before the big celebration in Baghdad..

I guess they don't like terrorists either....

Once again you need to be reminded. We knew they had illegal missiles, they were being destroyed when the war started.

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: Alistar7

Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Update:

CNN just reported that a second set of tests on this warhead were negative. They are calling in another team who can open the warhead and perform more sophisticated testing.

In what appears to be complete denial of the anit-war crowd, it has been effectively proven Saddam hid and purchased banned weaopons during the sanctions period. Do any of you even know HOW he gassed the kurds? You can use artillery to launch WMD.

Sorry, if you have a point, I missed it. In my post that you quoted, I didn't take a position one way or the other. I just stated a fact re. CNN's new report.

Re. "proof" of the purchase of banned weapons during the sanction period - do you have any references for this? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I don't remember seeing anything. In the two high-profile claims I do remember, one was shown to be highly distorted - the anodized aluminum tubes; the other was discovered to be an outright fabrication - buying uranium in Africa. Quite possible I'm forgetting something obvious, please let me know.

 

[fwtong]

Originally posted by: Bowfinger

Originally posted by: Alistar7

Originally posted by: Bowfinger
Update:

CNN just reported that a second set of tests on this warhead were negative. They are calling in another team who can open the warhead and perform more sophisticated testing.

In what appears to be complete denial of the anit-war crowd, it has been effectively proven Saddam hid and purchased banned weaopons during the sanctions period. Do any of you even know HOW he gassed the kurds? You can use artillery to launch WMD.

Sorry, if you have a point, I missed it. In my post that you quoted, I didn't take a position one way or the other. I just stated a fact re. CNN's new report.

Re. "proof" of the purchase of banned weapons during the sanction period - do you have any references for this? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I don't remember seeing anything. In the two high-profile claims I do remember, one was shown to be highly distorted - the anodized aluminum tubes; the other was discovered to be an outright fabrication - buying uranium in Africa. Quite possible I'm forgetting something obvious, please let me know.

What??? Our government lying to achieve their own ends? Never! President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld have proven themselves to be morally just in liberating Iraq's oil. Never, ever question the moral authority of the US to liberate Iraq's oil, because you are being un-American and should be censored. Furthermore, that kind of talk is dangerous to national security. Trust me, they will find WND one way or another. After all, our government would never lie to their people and it would be un-American to question anything that it does.

 

[BarneyFife]

I thought they were trying to find weapons of mass destruction? I don't think a weapon that can knock out a tank qualifies for that.

 

[Moonbeam]

Maybe we were too preemptive. Maybe we should have actually waited till they had some real capacity before we attacked. I fully expected the streets of Baghdad to be paved with WMD. Well anyway I guess it was justified cause now maybe fewer Americans will now die in their sleep from nightmares about Iraq.

 

[Gaard]

But they did have the real capacity. We were in danger of a terrorist attack. Now that we have won the war there is no longer a danger of being attacked. I know they had the real capacity because I have solid proof that they did. Just don't ask me what that proof is because I will never reveal my methods of knowing. And don't bother telling me that the war is over (or close to being over) and I can tell you what my evidence is now. Nope, can't do it. I'll never say...you'll just have to trust me when I say I know it for a fact.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Maybe we were too preemptive. Maybe we should have actually waited till they had some real capacity before we attacked. I fully expected the streets of Baghdad to be paved with WMD. Well anyway I guess it was justified cause now maybe fewer Americans will now die in their sleep from nightmares about Iraq.

I think you have just spoken a truth that you yourself may not fully grasp.

Let us say Saddam didn't have WMD(although I'll take that bet, anytime).

Does anybody think he didn't yearn for them?

Does anybody think now that he wasn't a morally corrupt individual who had the means to wreak havoc on the world and it was just a matter of time before we saw the fruits of his labor?

You know Mr. Moonbeam I've heard you say that war is caused by past failures. And, I have to agree, if we were to always make the right moves in the past we would never need war. But, we humans aren't omnipotent, we can only make decisions based on our best judgment. Unfortunately it had come to such a time where Saddam needed to be ousted. But, luckily we had the leaders who were willing to make that decision based on their perceptions.

 

[mastertech01]

Personally I wouldnt care if he had WMD or not. He was a murdering SOB tyrant who needed to be removed long ago. It was time for some powerfull entity to take its tail from between its legs and do the right thing for those dreadfully oppressed people under his reign of terror, and to remove his terrorist training camps, and his mass accumulations of weapons designated for future terrorist activity. And that isnt the only place that needs cleaned up as well. Same goes for Afghanistan, the Taliban deserved what they got whether Osama was caught or not. IMHO

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: mastertech01
Personally I wouldnt care if he had WMD or not. He was a murdering SOB tyrant who needed to be removed long ago. It was time for some powerfull entity to take its tail from between its legs and do the right thing for those dreadfully oppressed people under his reign of terror, and to remove his terrorist training camps, and his mass accumulations of weapons designated for future terrorist activity. And that isnt the only place that needs cleaned up as well. Same goes for Afghanistan, the Taliban deserved what they got whether Osama was caught or not. IMHO

Kim needs to go too.