KLP - Re: Your questions
In no particular order:
Is there an antidote for the gas?
What form was an antidote to be administered?
Assuming the gas was indeed BZ, yes, there is an antidote and the way it needs to be administered does not seem to be a secret:
virtualvisibility.net
Incapacitating agents are usually defined as chemical agents that produce reversible disturbances in the central nervous system that disrupt cognitive ability. The former military agent BZ (now used in pharmacology where it is known as QNB) is a cholinergic blocking compound and produces many effects similar to those of atropine, such as mydriasis, drying of secretions, heart rate changes, and decreased intestinal motility. BZ, after an onset time of an hour or more, will--like high doses of atropine--produce confusion, disorientation, and disturbances in perception (delusions, hallucinations) and expressive function (slurred speech). The antidote, physostigmine (Antilirium7), reverses these effects for about an hour, and because the effects of BZ last for hours to days repeated doses must be given.
How long would it take to get the necessary equipment and the antidote ready for 750+ people?
The more important question is, probably, whether or not they could have done with another gas, a nerve gas for example, that would serve to immobilize everyone just as well, which can be cured by "atropine", a general antidote widely used in the military. I am no expert in the field, but it looks to me that the gas used might have been the The Wrong Choice if it needed a specific antidote that the Russians did not have in sufficient quantity to start with.
zonder, if a terrorist group came to your country, and decided on a similar stunt, is your country ready?? With gas and hopefully an antidote for ALL your citizens who are held hostage?
Probably not but this is irrelevant to whether or not the Russian forces that gassed a certain theater last weekend were negligent or not.
Or do you just let the terrorists blow up whatever and whoever they want?
Is this a trick question?
How much time did Moscow have to plan an action against the terrorists? The longest time would be 56 hours, and possibly the shortest time would be 12 hours, when the terrorists announced they would start killing the hostages if their demands weren't met.
That is no excuse. They could have perhaps gone with another gas if they had no antidote for this one.
Besides, I cannot understand what you are defending here. Even Russians were on TV yesterday, saying they didn't expect the gas to have such severe effects.
How much time did Moscow have to plan an action against the terrorists? (...) The longest time would be 56 hours, and possibly the shortest time would be 12 hours, when the terrorists announced they would start killing the hostages if their demands weren't met.
Completely irrelevant. There was clearly a problem in the planning and/or effecting this plan of gassing a theater-full of people they were trying to save. Are you aware that the American Embassy demanded to know what gas was used so that they could save the life of one American who was in the theater and they are still waiting for a response? This is not just a problem of "They had such little time that they couldn't put together the antidotes" - Not only is there not a SINGLE ANTIDOTE SYRINGE in sight, but they are not even TELLING what the gas in question was so that the ex-hostages CAN be given the proper antidote.
Once again - I am not questioning whether or not they did the right thing to attack rather than negotiate with the terrorists. I am, however, saying that there seems to be a good reason why people are questioning the way in which this attack was carried out. |
