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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (4468)	2/21/2003 12:51:34 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15987

Not entirely true. Not all biological & chemical warfare is from the air (would you like some in your tapwater perhaps?). Thanks for conceding the point. (not really) Sure, some poisons can be distributed without high-tech knowhow, but if you're trying to suddenly kill masses of enemy troops, you need high-tech skills. Besides, would you like to test your "weaponized" argument with VX nerve gas? Do you think it is harmless the way it was sold, before some "weaponization" process that may have taken place in the hands of the Iraqis? Or was it already a weapon? According to Pollack, we didn't sell the Iraqis VX, the French and the Germans did. Just as the French sold Saddam his first nuclear reactor in 1976. At one point, Iraq constituted 40% of French arms exports. Not that the Pentagon was super-sensitive to chemical warfare in the 80's; we were just anxious to make sure that Iraq didn't lose outright to Khomenei's Iran.

To: zonder who wrote (4468)	2/21/2003 1:38:01 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15987

Besides, would you like to test your "weaponized" argument with VX nerve gas? Zonder.. If I sell you cobra anti-toxin and you are somehow able to extract cobra venom and weaponize it, are we now to outlaw the sale of cobra venom?? (probably a poor example since I'm not sure if anti-venom actually contains trace amounts of venomous enzymes). Selling VX antidote for defense against Iranian chemical weapons (they used them too) was a valid sale. But Iraq opted to make VX from it IN VIOLATION of the sales agreement.. And this is the company that sold them: atcc.org And their distibutors (and countries legally able to order from them): atcc.org With regard to Anthrax and Botulin, both are naturally occurring as bacterium. But both must be weaponized to permit their storage for long periods of time and dispersal via various delivery systems. And this requires CONSIDERABLE expertise ABOVE AND BEYOND merely possessing bacterial samples.. That's the difference. Btw, have you ever used a bug spray such as Black Flag or Raid.. Or do you put flea collars on your pets?? They all contain highly diluted nerve agents (organophosphates), varieties of which are also known as Tabun and Sarin: michigan.gov 216.239.51.100 fpnotebook.com So do we stop shipping pesticides to Iraq and every other country in the world? By what means do we control access to them when we can't even prevent Iraq from smuggling oil and rocket engines?? Hawk