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FOUND! Recent chemical weapons in Iraq
Uhh, welp, not quite what we had in mind:
| quote: | U.S. Says It Found Chemicals at Iraqi Bomb Factory
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 22 — American troops on a raid near Falluja discovered three car bombs under construction in a bomb-making factory that appeared intended to be used with chemicals, the chief American military spokesman in Baghdad said Thursday.
Five of the buildings raided by American forces were packed with munitions and chemicals, he said.
The discovery follows three gas attacks in the past month in which insurgents used truck bombs to deploy chlorine, a greenish gas that burns the skin and can be fatal after just a few deep breaths. The latest such bombing on Wednesday in southern Baghdad killed at least two people and wounded 32 others, many exhibiting symptoms of chlorine exposure.
The spokesman, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, described the materials found in the raid as 65 propane tanks and ordinary chemicals, but he did not say any chlorine gas was found. He said the troops found “five complete buildings full of these various types of things to include car bombs that were being assembled and put together with propane tanks.
The insurgents’ recent use of chlorine gas in bombings appeared to be a new attempt to heighten fears among Iraqi citizens, he said on CNN.
“What we are seeing is a change in tactics, but the strategy has not changed,” General Caldwell said, adding that the recent bombings were a “crude attempt to raise the terror level by taking and mixing ordinary chemicals with explosive devices and instilling that fear within the Iraqi people.”
Just west of Falluja in Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, American forces fought a fierce battle with insurgents early Thursday morning that officials at the Ramadi hospital said left at least 27 Iraqis dead. Dr. Abdullah Salah said four women and four children were among the dead. Eyewitnesses said at least three homes were attacked by American aircraft.
The Associated Press reported that photographs that were made available to it showed “the bodies of two small boys wrapped in one blanket, one with a bloody face, the other ashen and with mud on his mouth, his hands crossed on his chest.” Other pictures showed four or five bodies covered by blankets, and men sifting through rubble that appeared to be the wreckage of one destroyed home.
The United States Marine Corps, which patrols western Iraq, disputed the account of Ramadi hospital workers. The Marines said U.S. soldiers, including troops in tanks, took fire from insurgents and returned fire. Any building that was attacked by United States forces had been used as shelter by insurgents who were firing on the troops during the skirmish, they said. At least 12 people were killed, all of them insurgents, they added.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/w...agewanted=print |
You see, Rummy and Cheney were right all along!
Resilient little f$ckers, those insurgents. Chlorine gas - nice touch you bastards. Not good. Not good at all.
In other news, Anna Nicole is still dead. And the British pulling out of Iraq is a tell-tale sign of VICTORY!!! in Iraq. Now back to sports, Frank.
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Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...
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