FOX (5/18/04):Tests Confirm Sarin in Iraqi Artillery Shell

[underpants]

Okay it could be LBN techinically but not really. My favorite parts:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120268,00.html
Tuesday, May 18, 2004

NEW YORK — Tests of the artillery shell that detonated in Iraq on Saturday have confirmed that it did in fact contain an estimated three or four liters of the deadly sarin (search) nerve agent, Defense officials told Fox News Tuesday.

The soldiers displayed "classic" symptoms of sarin exposure — most notably dilated pupils and nausea, officials said. The symptoms ran their course fairly quickly, however, and as of Tuesday, the two had returned to duty.

Iraq: A 'Bazaar of Weapons'

New weapons caches are being found every day, experts said, including "hundreds of thousands" of RPG rounds and man-portable air defense weapons used to shoot down coalition aircraft.

"Clearly if we're gonna find one or two of these every so often — used as an IED or some other way — the threat is not all that high but it does confirm suspicion that he did have this stuff," said Ret. U.S. Army Col. Robert Maginnis.

But some experts say that the individual shells themselves don't pose a threat to the masses.

Kurds: We Have Evidence of WMD (um not really this has to do with Hallabja)

"We don't know where they are but we suspect they are hidden in many locations in Iraq ... it's quite possible that even the neighboring states who are against the reform of Iraq ... are helping the Saddamites in hiding," Howar Ziad, the Kurdish representative to the United Nations, told Fox News on Tuesday.

Ziad said the United Nations, World Health Organization and others haven't "bothered" to travel to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq to see the effects sarin and other deadly agents have had on people firsthand and to get proof that Saddam did in fact possess such weapons.

"We have evidence — we have victims of the use of those agents and we're still waiting for WHO and the U.N. to come investigate," Ziad said.

[boobooday]

1. FAUX: News from a parallel universe!

"We don't know where they are but we suspect they are hidden in many locations in Iraq ... it's quite possible that even the neighboring states who are against the reform of Iraq ... are helping the Saddamites in hiding," Howar Ziad, the Kurdish representative to the United Nations, told Fox News on Tuesday.

Edit: Saddamites in hiding?????

hahahaha Ask Rummy, they're either north, south, east or west.

I think Rummy took the Sarin over there in his carryon luggage . . . Or maybe it was these little "terrists":



http://www.wgoeshome.com

[underpants]

5. Okay maybe I had missed it before today but "Saddamites"

Please I think we all know where they are going and what they are trying to imply there.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Oh balls.

Depending on their level of exposure, someone would have gotten a LOT sicker than that.

Friggin' Fox. Worthless as tits on a boar hog.

[lostinhere]

7. They probably didn't get hit with much.

My understanding is that the artillery round was a binary weapon. These were designed to increase the safety of storing and handling the round.

In a binary round, there is no nerve agent. Instead, there are two chambers, each containing chemicals, that when mixed, create the nerve agent. The divider between the chambers is broken by the shock of the round being fired and the rotation of the round in the air mixes the chemicals.

So, most likely, the chemicals weren't mixed until the the IED was detonated. This means that the two chemicals were scattered and the only nerve agent produced was where the two chemicals mixed. Since some of the starting chemicals evaporate, there would not be much time for the nerve agent to form. Very little nerve agent, little exposure.

So, keep your ears open. I think the next chemical IED will be pre-mixed.

[July]

13. Weapons of a Couple of Guys' Short-Term Sorta Barfy Feeling

And Fox thinks this proves anything? Do they not see how pathetic this is?

You are right. They're worthless.

[i_c_a_White_Ghost]

3. Faux is lock n step with the admin

notice how they are the only network to use the term "homicide bomber". I heard *ush say it himself this morning.

[bluedog]

4. CNN

the lady Starr told Wolfie that it was NOT confirmed and tests are being made at 3 or 4 labs and more when it comes back to the states.I believe her more than I do FOX...........

[Gloria]

6. Last night on Hardball, Tony Blankley was

spewing all over about this and Howard Fineman just shut him down, saying that "But it's not chemical or biological WMDs." and "everybody has things like mustard gas..." (sic)

Tweety also didn't seem very excited by all this.

Seems to be a good sign if media whores of the highest caliber aren't buying into this...

[spanone]

8. Utter Bullshit. They said today that it could take weeks.

You would think that the FCC would have fine these pricks or revoke their license. This is outright lying.

[jobycom]

9. Did they explain why these weapons haven't been used before now?

And by "now," I mean why haven't they been used before Bush fell to 42% in the polls?

[bluedog]

10. Rummy says ...maybe NOT

Washington-AP -- Don't jump to any conclusions just yet. That warning comes from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, after the U-S military in Iraq announced that a roadside bomb containing sarin nerve gas had exploded near a U-S military convoy.

Rumsfeld told a Washington, D-C audience that the "field test" showing the presence of sarin may not be accurate. He says more analysis needs to be done -- and that it may take some time to find out just what the chemical was.

snip

One official says the shell apparently contained two chemicals that are designed to combine and create sarin -- but that they didn't mix properly.
http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=1873574&nav=0oa8AfMQ

[jobycom]

11. "Apparently?" Uhuh.

"One official says the shell apparently contained two chemicals that are designed to combine and create sarin..."

"Apparently" means "We're guessing."

[jobycom]

12. Did anyone notice that FOX is GUESSING on the volume?

"Due to the detonation, burn-off and resulting spillage, it was not clear exactly how much harmful material was inside the shell.

A 155-mm shell can hold two to five liters of sarin; three to four liters is likely the right number, intelligence officials said."

"Likely" the right number. Nice journalistic integrity there. It means "This story is 'likely' to boost Bush's credibility at least a little out of the gutter, even if we have to print a retraction in two weeks."

[yellowcanine]

14. two to five liters? That's only a 250% difference. Close enough for

"intelligence" work.

[jobycom]

15. LOL! More than that

They are saying how much one of these shells normally holds. They have no idea how much was in this shell.

[underpants]

18. Fox main page now says "GALLON of Sarin"

www.foxnews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120268,00.html

[Vogon_Glory]

16. Hans Blix, The Wall Street Journal, Etc

I read a report earlier today saying that the artillery shell was probably scavenged from one of the stockpiles that had been destroyed after Desert Storm. I'd trust Blix's assessment a lot more these days than I would any Pentagon careerist answering to the Runnin' Dubya Posse's politicos over them.

As for World Net Daily's Dow Jones affiliate, they're frantically trying find ways to whip up support for George Deucey-U Bush's old claims that Iraq had massive WMD stockpiles.

[underpants]

17. David Kay said pretty much the same

And no one seems to think that whoever set this IED had any idea what was in it................until now.