re: oliveoyl:nerver gas found in iraq Seems like the reporters are conducting their own scientific research;
http://www.msnbc.com/news/895392.asp?0cv=CA01
April 7
"TESTING AT laboratories in the United States has to be completed before the presence of chemical weapons could be confirmed, the officials said.
If the discoveries were confirmed, it would be the first find of chemical weapons during the war. Finding and eliminating Saddam Hussein’s chemical and biological weapons is a goal of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the discovery of such weapons of mass destruction could mute international criticism of the war.
One senior intelligence official told NBC that the reports of chemical weapons should be treated with caution, noting that previous suspicions proved to be unfounded."
"Often the first test is wrong, the second as well," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "And believe me, if it turns out to be chemical weapons, you won’t miss the story." "
VARIOUS REPORTS
Since the war’s onset on March 20, a number of reports that suggested the presence of banned weaponry turned out to be wrong. However, on Monday several reporters gave accounts of discoveries that could boost the U.S. argument, emanating from officers with Army and Marine divisions.
A Knight Ridder News Service journalist traveling with the the Army’s 101st Airborne Division reported about suspicious material in a compound near the Iraqi city of Hindiyah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
Reporter Tom Lasseter said initial tests of samples from the facility were inconsistent. Some tests did not indicate chemical weapons, while others indicated the presence of G-class nerve agents — which include sarin and tabun — and mustard agent, a blistering chemical first used in World War I.
He also reported that he and several soldiers were decontaminated after some of the soldiers felt ill while searching the compound. Officials at the Pentagon said they did not have any information about anyone getting sick.
NBC’s Dana Lewis reported from near Karbala that U.S. Army commanders said they have discovered more than a dozen barrels of chemicals in an agricultural facility 30 miles northeast of there that have tested positive as blister and nerve agents.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Lewis and Lasseter had been provided with details on the same alleged chemical dump.
