Friday, May 06, 2005
"U.S. to consult Saddam for tips on disposal of nerve agent" from BrainSnap.com
U.S. to consult Saddam for tips on disposal of nerve agent
by Byron Kent on September 22nd, 2004. national | science and technology
After running into delays in destroying the United States' deadly VX stockpile, the Army has announced it will hire Saddam Hussein as a technical adviser. Ever since Saddam was able to destroy his stockpile of chemical weapons in less than three months, he has been considered a leading expert on arms reduction.
A month before the US led invasion of Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell estimated the Iraqis had 100 to 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. In his February 5 presentation to the U.N. Security Council, Powell claimed: "It took years for Iraq to finally admit that it had produced four tons of the deadly nerve agent, VX. A single drop of VX on the skin will kill in minutes. Four tons."
The United States is storing 1,269 tons of the nerve agent VX in Indiana. US Army chiefs claim that if the US is serious about getting rid of their stocks of VX, then it should think seriously about consulting foreign experts like Hussein.
After all, in more than a year of occupying Iraq, the United States has been unable to find the WMDs the former dictator was hiding. The rate at which the Iraqis must have destroyed their chemical weapons far exceeds the US Army's procedure.
"It's a pretty impressive benchmark to set," said one of the Army's disarmament experts, Col Peter Traverse. "It's clear he could teach us a thing or two about meeting our pledge to eradicate WMDs."
Saddam, former brutal dictator of Iraq, was captured by U.S. forces in December 2003 and is now awaiting trial. According to insiders, negotiations to secure his assistance broke down recently over demands made by the former Dictator for a rubber duck for his prison bathtub.
Critics of the plan, however, say the US should have no dealings with a man guilty of war crimes. According to Colonel Traverse, however, collaborating with former enemies has been part of US policy for many decades.
"When it comes to technological expertise, the United States has always been willing to work with former enemies. As a great nation, we must believe in forgiveness. Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was, for example, instrumental in landing our boys on the moon in the 60s. Without Nazi ingenuity - or the expertise of a man who used slave labor to develop WMDs in the 1940s - the United States might have lost the space race."
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Serious story:
VX Destruction Begins - Indiana
—ungeziefer
by Byron Kent on September 22nd, 2004. national | science and technology
After running into delays in destroying the United States' deadly VX stockpile, the Army has announced it will hire Saddam Hussein as a technical adviser. Ever since Saddam was able to destroy his stockpile of chemical weapons in less than three months, he has been considered a leading expert on arms reduction.
A month before the US led invasion of Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell estimated the Iraqis had 100 to 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. In his February 5 presentation to the U.N. Security Council, Powell claimed: "It took years for Iraq to finally admit that it had produced four tons of the deadly nerve agent, VX. A single drop of VX on the skin will kill in minutes. Four tons."
The United States is storing 1,269 tons of the nerve agent VX in Indiana. US Army chiefs claim that if the US is serious about getting rid of their stocks of VX, then it should think seriously about consulting foreign experts like Hussein.
After all, in more than a year of occupying Iraq, the United States has been unable to find the WMDs the former dictator was hiding. The rate at which the Iraqis must have destroyed their chemical weapons far exceeds the US Army's procedure.
"It's a pretty impressive benchmark to set," said one of the Army's disarmament experts, Col Peter Traverse. "It's clear he could teach us a thing or two about meeting our pledge to eradicate WMDs."
Saddam, former brutal dictator of Iraq, was captured by U.S. forces in December 2003 and is now awaiting trial. According to insiders, negotiations to secure his assistance broke down recently over demands made by the former Dictator for a rubber duck for his prison bathtub.
Critics of the plan, however, say the US should have no dealings with a man guilty of war crimes. According to Colonel Traverse, however, collaborating with former enemies has been part of US policy for many decades.
"When it comes to technological expertise, the United States has always been willing to work with former enemies. As a great nation, we must believe in forgiveness. Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was, for example, instrumental in landing our boys on the moon in the 60s. Without Nazi ingenuity - or the expertise of a man who used slave labor to develop WMDs in the 1940s - the United States might have lost the space race."
____________________________________
Serious story:
VX Destruction Begins - Indiana
—ungeziefer
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