[fl-929]

Link

Tests Show No Agent in Iraq Mortar Shells
14 minutes ago

By MATTHEW ROSENBERG, Associated Press Writer

CAMP EDEN, Iraq - U.S. tests on mortar shells found in Iraq (news - web sites) and suspected of containing blister agents have turned up negative, though further tests will be conducted, a Danish army spokesman said Wednesday.

The 36 shells, discovered last week by Danish troops, are believed to be from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Four initial tests by British and Danish experts came up positive for blister agents, Danish spokesman, Capt. Kim Vibe Michelsen, told The Associated Press.

But later tests by U.S. experts from the Iraq Survey Group on five of the shells have shown no trace of chemical weapons, the Danish military said.

However, more tests are needed, and the results will be sent to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the military said in a statement.

A U.S. official said the tests suggest the munitions may not contain blister agents, as initial field tests had indicated.

The official, speaking on condition of anonimity, said that the test results aren't definitive, but "it seems to be turning away from being a blister agent." The official said there are chemicals associated with certain munitions, such as phospohrous, that can produce false positives.

Initial tests by troops in the field are designed to favor a positive reading, erring on the side of caution to protect soldiers. More sophisticated tests are often necessary.

"The Iraqi Survey Group has never encountered this type of shells before," the Danish military said. "They will therefore take a shell for closer investigation," including a look into why the four initial tests gave a positive result.

Before invading Iraq, the United States said Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime had stockpiles of mustard gas, a World War I-era blister agent that is stored in liquid form. The chemical burns skin, eyes and lungs.

U.S. intelligence officials also claimed Iraq had failed to destroy stocks of sarin, cyclosarin and VX in violation of U.N. resolutions. So far, however, no such materials have been found nine months after the collapse of Saddam's regime.

The Danish troops initially found 36 shells, exposed by rain, in the ground outside a village near Qurnah on Friday. The Danish army's Camp Eden is near Qurnah.

"This was a stash. They were stacked and ordered and wrapped in plastic," Michelsen said, adding they must have been buried 10 or more years ago.

Michelsen said the 120mm shells, which have no markings indicating the country of manufacture, "don't look like any known" mortars in the Iraqi arsenal.

Michelsen said the Danes have unearthed 50 shells so far and at least 50 more are believed still buried. Villagers told the troops that they had found about 400 or more some years ago and threw them in the Tigris River, Michelsen said.

The flat, muddy terrain where they were found was the scene of intense fighting during the Iran-Iraq war. The villagers told the Danes that one bloody battle was fought in the area in 1984 for seven days.

The villagers said they fled the area and returned after the battle to find all their cattle dead and the area littered with human bodies, Michelsen said. He quoted the villagers as saying that none of the dead bore gunshot wounds, but all were bleeding from the mouth and nose.

"This is a clear indication of chemical weapons use," he said.

He said the villagers have also spoken of people coughing blood, and livestock getting sick and bleeding from the mouth. But the time frame for the reported sickness is not clear.

Since the war ended last year, the U.S.-led coalition has found several caches that tested positive for mustard gas but later turned out to contain missile fuel or other chemicals.

Other discoveries early in the U.S.-led occupation turned out to be old caches that already had been tagged by U.N. inspectors and were scheduled for destruction.

[Bacchus]

Well, isn't that just utterly surprising! Let's face it, politics have evolved into such a dismal, dishonest quagmire that I can't see how anyone can separate fact from fiction anymore. If anyone has any good tips, I'm all ears

[deez]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

Well, isn't that just utterly surprising! Let's face it, politics have evolved into such a dismal, dishonest quagmire that I can't see how anyone can separate fact from fiction anymore. If anyone has any good tips, I'm all ears

[Baketech]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

Well, isn't that just utterly surprising! Let's face it, politics have evolved into such a dismal, dishonest quagmire that I can't see how anyone can separate fact from fiction anymore. If anyone has any good tips, I'm all ears

I'm not sure what you are saying here....

Initially there was a report of someone finding weapons that field tested positive, now you have a follow up report where you were told the results of the formal testing, and that those results were negative.

The media neither lied or misled, but merely reported the story as it happened...

So please explain to me what you don't like about this....

Oh...also, where did politics play a part in this.....

[Bacchus]

Dear Bake, my numero uno political ****-stirring little friend, baiting me 'til death do us part ,

Perhaps I selected the wrong post in which to vent my feelings of frustration with current politics. Bottom line is (c'mon, admit it buddy), the American (and just about every other) government has lied to its constituents for so long that I for one have trouble trusting much of what any politician spews. Am I paranoid? Maybe, but I think the better adjective would be realistic.
















P.S. - I guess this probably queers any chance of ever seeing any fresh Indiana morels, eh?

[CBRVFR]

Indiana Morels have tested positive for a blistering agent....we'll keep re- testing until we get a negative and let you know...







I can see Baketech now....."Hey Blix, come over here and taste this one, willya? !"

[Bacchus]

[Baketech]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

Dear Bake, my numero uno political ****-stirring little friend, baiting me 'til death do us part ,

Perhaps I selected the wrong post in which to vent my feelings of frustration with current politics. Bottom line is (c'mon, admit it buddy), the American (and just about every other) government has lied to its constituents for so long that I for one have trouble trusting much of what any politician spews. Am I paranoid? Maybe, but I think the better adjective would be realistic.

I don't understand what this has to do with the government.....you are getting nearly real time information from the media...which culminated in the truth that they were not WMD. I also do not understand the tendency to read a story in the news media, and then attribute/associate it as being a governmental statement.......most puzzling....

Personally, I am happy to live in a free environment where this info is available to me....much of the world does not enjoy that priviledge....

If anything, this story was a ringing endorsement of just how good our system of government is.....

And you are still on the Morel list.....these threads are just a fun way of discussing things and nothing more....

CBRVFR...lmao at the blister agent thing.....

[Bacchus]

Yummm, morels! Oh thank you Mr Baketech sir, for keeping me on the "short" list. I don't know how I'd ever repay you Hmm, wait a minute, that was the wrong emoticon.

But seriously, certainly you actually understand where I'm coming from with all of this babble. The American public is (and has been) consistently lied to by politicians, but I think Bush has taken it to serious new heights. I too am happier than a pig in **** to live in America, just tired of, and frustrated with, all the deceit. Peace, out

[deez]

I've gotten to a point where I don't like either party. Why you ask? Because they are liars. You just don't get that high up in politics without some level of corruption.

[Baketech]

I still don't see why you are linking politics to media behaviour, but to each his own......

Bacchus....I found a couple of potentially nice hunting spots for next spring...