| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
| Anonymous |
 Posted: 20-08-2002 10:46 Post subject: Terrorist Chem Weapons? |
 |
|
|
From the BBC:
'A radical Islamic group has been testing biological weapons at a small facility in northern Iraq, the US Government says - but American plans for covert action against the facility have been shelved.
US officials have confirmed media reports that Ansar al-Islam - a group allegedly linked to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation - had been conducting the experiments over the last couple of months.
"Information indicated they might be experimenting with [the toxin] ricin, including experiments with barnyard animals and reports of experimenting on at least one human," an official said quoted by news agencies.
BBC correspondent Steve Kingstone says the Pentagon considered some form of military action to destroy the facility earlier this year, although officials have refused to elaborate.
Bush administration officials apparently concluded the testing facility was too small and crude to be worth risking American lives over and it was not worth the outcry that might follow a US military operation...
...US media reports said the Ansar tests included exposing a man to the toxin in a market place and then following him home, where he later died.' |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Jerry_B Great Old One Joined: 15 Apr 2002 Total posts: 8265 |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 11:14 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Hmm, I'm not convinced - but expect more such stories as the proposed US military action against Iraq picks up speed. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Anonymous |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 11:40 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Isn't northern Iraq outside Saddam's control? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| lopaka3 Great Old One Joined: 17 Sep 2001 Total posts: 2154 Location: Near the corner of a Big Continent Gender: Male |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 12:00 Post subject: |
|
|
|
A couple of oddities , though one is merely personal. I had never heard of ricin until last night, when I watched a rerun of the network crime drama CSI, which I had never bothered to watch, though I understand it's pretty popular (my brother really likes it). Anyhows one of plots involved a woman who kills herself by cooking up some ricin in her kitchen. Now I wake up and read about the stuff in the paper. As "they" say, though, there are no coincidences, only conspiracies.
The other thing that makes this strange, IMHO, is that Bushy has been beating the wardrums for months now about how Saddam is the evilest guy on the planet, and has all these chemical weapons, so we need a big war to stop him, many etcs.
But this facility is in Kurdish controlled northen Iraq. So let me get this straight: we're going to invade Iraq to get rid of Saddam, help install Kurds as part of a power sharing agreement, who just happen to let al-queda use some of their land to make chemical weapons. More
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Jerry_B Great Old One Joined: 15 Apr 2002 Total posts: 8265 |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 12:15 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| AFAIK, none of Iraq is ostensibly outside of Saddam Hussein's control. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Anonymous |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 13:00 Post subject: |
|
|
|
Both South Iraq (home of the marsh Arabs) and North Iraq (home of the Kurds) are under a strict no fly zone, meaning Saddam's capablities are severly limited. Both zones are also constantly montiored by the USA/UK.
I'm not sure about South Iraq, but the no fly zone in the North is basically an automonous state. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| JamesWhitehead Piffle Prospector Joined: 02 Aug 2001 Total posts: 5779 Location: Manchester, UK Gender: Male |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 13:26 Post subject: |
|
|
|
Ricin is often cited as one of the most lethal of poisons, requiring
only a tiny dose for fatality. It was supposedly used in the murder
of a BBC Journalist called Markov (Sp?). He was said to have had
a tiny pellet of the poison injected into him by collision with an
umbrella spike on the streets of London.
I think ricin is produced from the Caster Oil plant.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Anonymous |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 13:53 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| wasn't Markov some kind of dissident, killed by the Bulgarian KGB. (apparently it was the same wet work squad (can't get enough of those cold war spy novels) that set up the hit on the Pope) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| lopaka3 Great Old One Joined: 17 Sep 2001 Total posts: 2154 Location: Near the corner of a Big Continent Gender: Male |
| Posted: 20-08-2002 14:08 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| Yeah, it is from Castor Beans, so I guess accurately it's a biological, not chemical weapon. And I believe the program I referenced said he was a Czech dissident/emigre. But of course fictional televison shows would never have sloppy fact-checking. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| ogopogo3 Just a CabbageHead Joined: 25 Oct 2001 Total posts: 1684 Location: Minnesota Age: 41 Gender: Male |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Jerry_B Great Old One Joined: 15 Apr 2002 Total posts: 8265 |
| Posted: 21-08-2002 10:13 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| chatsubo wrote: |
I'm not sure about South Iraq, but the no fly zone in the North is basically an automonous state. |
I very much doubt that.
As for Ricin, it's classed as a chemical weapon because it's a poisonous substance. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| lopaka3 Great Old One Joined: 17 Sep 2001 Total posts: 2154 Location: Near the corner of a Big Continent Gender: Male |
| Posted: 21-08-2002 12:33 Post subject: |
|
|
|
| JerryB wrote: |
I very much doubt that. |
Jerry-Saddam withdrew from the three most northern provinces of Iraq in 1991.
While life is still difficult because as an ill-defined autonomous area things like getting an area code or mailing a letter are close to impossible, these people are a million times better off than their Kurdish brethern in Iraq or especially Turkey, which you never hear anthing about because they're our NATO allies.
An article about a professor who recently came back from nine months in the three provinces. http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/text/0820rubin.htm |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| SoundDust Milkshake Holy Grail (Mediocre Old One)
Age: 11 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 07-01-2003 20:04 Post subject: Ricin in London |
|
|
|
News Here
| Quote: |
Anti-terrorist police are questioning six men after finding traces of the highly toxic poison ricin at an address in London.
They were arrested, along with a woman, on Sunday morning at houses in North and East London by officers from the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch.
The men, of North African origin, are in their late teens, 20s and 30s, and are being interviewed by officers.
The woman has since been released.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said the find highlighted the threat still posed by international terrorism.
He told an audience of diplomats in London: "The arrests... show this danger is present and real and with us now and its potential is huge."
The arrests were made following an intelligence tip-off and involved officers from the Anti-Terrorist Branch, Special Branch and the Security Service.
Materials and items of equipment were found at a residential address in Wood Green, north London, where one of the men was arrested.
|
and Iraq was briefly mentioned in the news earlier on bbc btw. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Anonymous |
| Posted: 07-01-2003 20:08 Post subject: |
|
|
|
Makes you wonder how they found out it was there in the first place. Apparently its a by-pruduct of Caster oil.
Weird :p |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Anonymous |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
