Chemical Weapons Lab Found in Falluja

[Headache in a Suitcase]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A laboratory for the manufacture of chemical weapons has been found in Falluja, an Iraqi minister said on Thursday, but Marines in the city said they were not aware of any such discovery.

"Soldiers from the Iraqi National Guard found a chemical laboratory that was used to prepare deadly explosives and poisons," Minister of State Kassim Daoud told a news conference.

"They also found in the lab booklets and instructions on how to make bombs and poisons. They even talked about the production of anthrax."

On Wednesday, Marines in Falluja said they had found a banner of the insurgent group led by Jordanian al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a chemicals laboratory in Falluja.

But they said there was no indication the lab was used to produce chemical weapons.

It was not clear whether Daoud was referring to the same laboratory. Marines said on Thursday they were not aware of any additional laboratories being discovered, and were skeptical that evidence had been found of the manufacture of chemical weapons.

 

[Danospano]

Doesn't the U.S.A. have the biggest stockpile of chemical weapons, nukes, etc in the world? Is that a good thing? I mean, I know we're perfect and all that shit, but nobody's perfect.

If we demand others must be defenseless, why shouldn't we?

 

[A_Wanderer]

Last time that I checked the USA did not test its chemical weapons on civilians or use them on the battlefield, but in the magical world of moral equivalence liberal democracy = fascist dictatorship and everybody in the world deserves these weapons.

 

[popshopper]

Last time that I checked the USA did not test its chemical weapons on civilians or use them on the battlefield, but in the magical world of moral equivalence liberal democracy = fascist dictatorship and everybody in the world deserves these weapons.

Tell that to Japan or Vietnam. Agent Orange is and was a chemical weapon. Naplam is one of the most vile weapons ever concieved and is now banned. The US is using what it admits to as being naplam by any other name, getting around the ban by changing the chemical structure of the weapon (instead of using diesel they're now using jet fuel which is even more potent.) The US is also using phosporous shells which rain down molten globules of metal which ignite anything under it (men, women and children).

The US in fallujah also commited at least one command level war crime. Not allowing civilians to flee a war zone...unless you take the view that every man between the ages 14-85 was an insurgent.

The US has no moral high ground here. If anything its the country which has perfected killing down to a fine art.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Defoliant in the context of jungle warfare makes perfect sense, albeit with serious and permanent side effects that go down the generations, I am not saying that it was the right thing to do, I think that it was one of the worst results of that war.

In regards to the US simply being intent on killing lots of people, if they truly did not care for civilian life does it make sense to send Marines into Fallujah to clear it out, it would be far easier to simply drop dozens of MOAB on the place and raze it entirely. And yes I do think that every male aged aged 15 to 55 (as given by the press) is a potential insurgent, it would be better to intern them for the duration of the battle and establish their identities rather than let them back into the city to either be killed, kill US soldiers or both.

The reference to Japan is intriguing, please elaborate (is this a reference to unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army? the group that tested biological weapons, chemical weapons on innocent civilians, POWs in addition to vivisections and a whole manner of crimes).

 

[Macfistowannabe]

If we demand others must be defenseless, why shouldn't we?

Good point, although there are many countries who don' t use their weapons wisely.

 

[STING2]

Tell that to Japan or Vietnam. Agent Orange is and was a chemical weapon. Naplam is one of the most vile weapons ever concieved and is now banned. The US is using what it admits to as being naplam by any other name, getting around the ban by changing the chemical structure of the weapon (instead of using diesel they're now using jet fuel which is even more potent.) The US is also using phosporous shells which rain down molten globules of metal which ignite anything under it (men, women and children).

The US in fallujah also commited at least one command level war crime. Not allowing civilians to flee a war zone...unless you take the view that every man between the ages 14-85 was an insurgent.

The US has no moral high ground here. If anything its the country which has perfected killing down to a fine art.

Well thats just total HORSE DUNG! There is no other military on the planet, that takes more care in preventing casualties than the US military. My best friend was involved in the assault on Fallujah and I am so proud of everything he and his unit as well as all those who were involved in the assault have done. Fallujah had become ground zero for terrorism in Iraq and the US Marines, US Army and Iraqi National Guard have destroyed it as a terrorist base. The assault on Fallujah was the most humane and life saving effort that anyone has launched so far, since Saddam was overthrown, in Iraq.

Thousands of IED's were being made in Fallujah and there were massive stockpiles of weapons found throughout the city. All of this was to be used to assault civilians, Iraqi troops and Coalition forces all over the country. This action has saved thousands and thousands of lives!

Oh and Napalm and Phosporus shells are not weapons of mass destruction. Arguements made to deem them as such could be used against regular high explosive shells.

 

[Macfistowannabe]

Your friend certainly has more faith in this war than our country. Obviously, it's hard to lay down your life for something you don't believe in.