What a coinkadink. Vials of chemical agent from early 90's Iraq found in old UN files.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

:eyes:

Apparently, this 'discovery' is dominating the media because, as I channel-surfed the tee-vee, it's all over the place.

[niyad]

1. that was my thought as well. also, "how conveeeeeeenient" saith church lady

[kenny blankenship]

2. Bush: Maybe if we interr-o-gate these chemical agents they'll turn out to have Iranian accents.

Hiding in the UN building, now that's whut I call a twofer!

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

6. I remember the campaign to discredit both the UN and the media and the congress.

My first thought: is this the beginning of another campaign?

:shrug:

[rodeodance]

3. found last FRiday per Reuters -

[Vilis Veritas]

4. Oh my! WMD's...

Where is My Distraction...

Peace.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Early 1990's? How about the late 1910's?

Phosgene was last used as a weapon in WWI.

It might be effective as a terror weapon in civilian populations, but against soldiers with modern gas masks, it's pretty tame.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

7. Is it the stuff the US sold to him in the 80's during the Iraq/Iran conflict? n/t

[rodeodance]

8. The inspectors, who are closing down their offices several streets from U.N. headquarters,

The inspectors, who are closing down their offices several streets from U.N. headquarters, discovered two small plastic packages with metal and glass containers, ranging in size from small vials to tubes the length of a pen with liquid substances, their spokesman, Ewen Buchanan, said.

Experts sealed the packages and then isolated them in a secured room. They also tested the area "and found no concentration of toxic vapors in the air," Buchanan said.

The experts, from the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Unit, known as UNMOVIC, believe "the packages are properly secured and pose no immediate risk or danger to the immediate public," Buchanan said.

He said there was no evacuation of staff at U.N. headquarters and other surrounding offices.

[Canuckistanian]

9. Doubtful

That was probably either Sarin or Vx or one of the derivatives.

Phosgene is a very, very old compound.

[iverglas]

10. the problem is

in wars like Iran-Iraq, soldiers aren't the targets. And I would doubt that all the kids used as cannon fodder by Iran, for instance, were so well equipped.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_warfare

Iran-Iraq War

The Iran-Iraq War began in 1980 when Iraq attacked Iran. Early in the conflict, Iraq began to employ mustard gas and tabun delivered by bombs dropped from airplanes; approximately 5% of all Iranian casualties are directly attributable to the use of these agents.

About 100,000 Iranian soldiers were victims of Iraq's chemical attacks. Many were hit by mustard gas. The official estimate does not include the civilian population contaminated in bordering towns or the children and relatives of veterans, many of whom have developed blood, lung and skin complications, according to the Organization for Veterans. Nerve gas agents killed about 20,000 Iranian soldiers immediately, according to official reports. Of the 80,000 survivors, some 5,000 seek medical treatment regularly and about 1,000 are still hospitalized with severe, chronic conditions. Iraq also targeted Iranian civilians with chemical weapons. Many thousands were killed in attacks on populations in villages and towns, as well as front-line hospitals. Many still suffer from the severe effects.

Despite the removal of Saddam and his regime by Coalition forces, there is deep resentment and anger in Iran that it was Western companies based in West Germany, France, and the U.S. that helped Iraq develop its chemical weapons arsenal in the first place, and that the world did nothing to punish Iraq for its use of chemical weapons throughout the war.

(photo) Victims of Iraq's poison gas attack in civil area during Iran-Iraq war . Chemical weapons which had been delivered to Saddam killed and injured numerous Iranian and Iraqis. According to Iraqi documents, assistance in developing chemical weapons was obtained from firms in many countries, including the United States, West Germany, the United Kingdom, France and China.

I hadn't thought that Iran's hands were exactly clean in this regard. Phosphene, though, yeah, not a big factor.

[gatorboy]

11. Pssst. Early 1990's helps make the case that it's Clintons fault.

Again. :eyes:

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

12. Psst. Bush, Sr. collected the material during the 1st Gulf War.

:smoke: