WMD that Saddam has

[LutherCalvin]

The following is a list of Weapons of mass destruction that have been DOCUMENTED that Iraq possessed:

Mustard gas 2850 tons

Sarin nerve gas 795 tons

VX nerve gas 39 tons

Tabun nerve agent 210 tons

Anthrax 25,000 tons

Uranium 400 tons

Plutonium 6 grams

The above list was presented to the House of Representatives yesterday in a speech delivered by Representative Scott McInnis (R-Colorado).

[sq764]

Can anyone explain in laymen's terms what the effects of each of these chemicals would be to us? Possibly effect as well as the potential reach of masses that could be affected??

[Tom]

Was any of these what he used to kill thousands of Kurds?
Whatever thatone was, it was effective.

[JustRalph]

Originally posted by sq764
Can anyone explain in laymen's terms what the effects of each of these chemicals would be to us? Possibly effect as well as the potential reach of masses that could be affected??

The anthrax is easy...remember the post office workers etc from last year?

The mustard gas is a hold over from WWI and II except they say its better now (oxymoron) it was a respiratory tract killer then. Now its been souped up.

The blister agents are pretty awful, here is some info

This link has more:
http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/cw/agent.htm#b02

Nerve Agents
The nerve agents are a group of particularly toxic chemical warfare agents. They were developed just before and during World War II and are related chemically to the organophosphorus insecticides. The principle agents in this group are:
GA (Tabun)
GB (Sarin)
GD (Soman)
GF
VX (methylphosphonothioic acid)

The "G" agents tend to be non-persistent whereas the "V" agents are persistent. Some "G" agents may be thickened with various substances in order to increase their persistence, and therefore the total amount penetrating intact skin. At room temperature GB is a comparatively volatile liquid and therefore non-persistent. GD is also significantly volatile, as is GA though to a lesser extent. VX is a relatively non-volatile liquid and therefore persistent. It is regarded as presenting little vapour hazard to people exposed to it. In the pure state nerve agents are colorless and mobile liquids. In an impure state nerve agents may be encountered as yellowish to brown liquids. Some nerve agents have a faint fruity odour.
GB and VX doses which are potentially life-threatening may be only slightly larger than those producing least effects. Death usually occurs within 15 minutes after absorption of a fatal VX dosage.
Although only about half as toxic as GB by inhalation, GA in low concentrations is more irritating to the eyes than GB. Symptoms appear much more slowly from a skin dosage than from a respiratory dosage. Although skin absorption great enough to cause death may occur in 1 to 2 minutes, death may be delayed for 1 to 2 hours. Respiratory lethal dosages kill in 1 to 10 minutes, and liquid in the eye kills almost as rapidly.

Blister or vesicant agents
Blister or vesicant agents are likely to be used both to produce casualties and to force opposing troops to wear full protective equipment thus degrading fighting efficiency, rather than to kill, although exposure to such agents can be fatal. Blister agents can be thickened in order to contaminate terrain, ships, aircraft, vehicles or equipment with a persistent hazard.

Vesicants burn and blister the skin or any other part of the body they contact. They act on the eyes, mucous membranes, lungs, skin and blood-forming organs. They damage the respiratory tract when inhaled and cause vomiting and diarrhoea when ingested.

:cool: