"Smoking gun" WMD site in Iraq turns out to contain pesticide

[codeorama]

"Smoking gun" WMD site in Iraq turns out to contain pesticide

29 minutes ago Add Mideast - AFP to My Yahoo!

NEAR NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) - A facility near Baghdad that a US officer had said might finally be "smoking gun" evidence of Iraqi chemical weapons production turned out to contain pesticide, not sarin gas as feared.

A military intelligence officer for the US 101st Airborne Division's aviation brigade, Captain Adam Mastrianni, told AFP that comprehensive tests determined the presence of the pesticide compounds.

Initial tests had reportedly detected traces of sarin -- a powerful toxin that quickly affects the nervous system -- after US soldiers guarding the facility near Hindiyah, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Baghdad, fell ill.

Mastrianni said: "They thought it was a nerve agent. That's what it tested. But it is pesticide."

He said a "theatre-level chemical testing team" made up of biologists and chemists had finally disproved the preliminary field tests results and established that pesticide was the substance involved.

Mastrianni added that sick soldiers, who had become nauseous, dizzy and developed skin blotches, had all recovered.

The turnaround was an embarrassment for the US forces in the region, which had been quick to say that they thought they had finally found the proof they have been actively looking for that Iraq (news - web sites) was hiding weapons of mass destruction.

A spokesman for the US army's 3rd Infantry Division, Major Ross Coffman, had told journalists at Baghdad's airport that the site "could be a smoking gun".

"We are talking about finding a site of possible weapons of mass destruction," he added.

The fact that the coalition forces have come up with no clear evidence of WMD after capturing much of Iraq in 19 days of fighting has raised questions over the war's justification.

[TheKurp]

On the other hand, in Karbala

Does the link I've provided pertain to the same find?

Confusing, these media reports.

[Art]

Code,

Quit being so happy about false positives. Hell, CNN's breaking news alert just came out that prelim tests reveal chemical and biological agents and details are to come. There will be a lot of false worries, but the reason that's so is because there is certain knowledge that Iraq has these banned weapons so any time we come across anything worrisome we are safely assuming the weapons are the worst until we know differently.

[codeorama]

Art...

Check any of my posts... I have NEVER claimed that Iraq does not have WMD. I do get annoyed when everyone jumps the gun because the mediots keep trying to out scoop each other.

Besides... If CNN confirmed something, how can it possibly be true:D

[NavyDave]

Well Rumsfeld and other HNIC types are saying a strong maybe on the stuff and it will take a few days meaning tuesday night or weds morn

[codeorama]

Pesticides are chemical weapons.... to bugs....:laugh:

[The Wicked Wop]

Besides... If CNN confirmed something, how can it possibly be true

HAHHAHA. That was good. As far as The WMD, it's really more a matter of time rather than when if. Perhaps its today maybe tomorrow, I think people in general want these stories to be try more for the reason that it will give us the complete justification for the war, which I do think is important, I personally would like the story of the WMD under the kid tennis court at the school to be true, it will help to show the world that Iraq would have played these cat and mouse games and never would have found the smoking gun......have you seen the inspectors, I can hardly imagine them grabbing shovles, and pitch-forks and digging through concrete to find nerve agents.