Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military From: wyle@rascal.ics.utexas.edu (Mitchell F. Wyle) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Chemicals weapons in Iraq Summary: mustard gas, 2 types of nerve gas; Message-ID: <1990Aug12.214438.2536@cbnews.att.com> Date: 12 Aug 90 21:44:38 GMT References: <1990Aug8.030444.25822@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: Departement Informatik, ETH, Zurich Lines: 62 Approved: military@att.att.com From: "Mitchell F. Wyle" In <1990Aug8.030444.25822@cbnews.att.com> edat!root anonymously asks: >Although it is a well know fact that Iraq has and will use chemical >weapons, what types of weapons do they actually have? Chlorine, >mustard, something else? What type of dispersal pattern do these >weapons take on. >From the USA Today of 10 August 1990, quoted without permission: Iraq would not hesitate to use poison gas against U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, the Iraqi ambassador to Greece said Thursday. "We possess very destructive chemical weapons and we will use them if attacked, " ambassador Abdel Fatah Khereji said in Athens. Iraq's chemical weapons supply is estimated at 5,000 tons of mustard gas and two types of nerve gas. Range of destruction: up to 400 miles. >Next question, delivery systems. Iraq has modified Scud B that I think >are between 500 & 1000 miles. Anything else? What about the missle >that Libya and Brazil (? maybe Argentina) was developing with a 3000 >mile range. Can anybody in netland elaborate on these systems, >payloads, ranges, accuracy? (granted accuracy may be a mute question). According to _Spiegel_ the 40,000 Kurds were killed with gas delivered by fighter-bombers (MiGs?). No one in the press I read has mentioned gas as a payload on Iraqi missiles, except Hussein himself, while threatening Israel. >Last question. Does anyone know much about Iraqii C^3? I've come >across some esoteric references to an Iraqii C^3 system that >essentially provides for a "doomsday" response. That is if Iraq comes >under direct attack, they have a plan to launch chemical loaded >weapons at various targets. Sort of a poor mans M.A.D. scheme. >Hussein alluded to this a few months back in response to talk of >another Israeli pre-emptive strike on their reactor. Does anyone >else know of any such system in place. According to a front page article in the "Neue Zuercher Zeitung" which I read 7 days ago (a long time ago!) there are 3,000 Soviet advisors in Iraq and several hundred were involved in the military annexation of Kuwait. I suppose they have "advised" Iraq since then to withdraw, but the soviet advisors did not set off any alarms before or during the invasion. Given that much of Iraq's best military equipment is Soviet, I always assumed that their C^3I was Soviet in nature. Now that you have mentioned their reactor, I have some questions of my own: 1. "Dust Bomb" If one puts Plutonium dust in one's petroleum, what happens? Does it sink and cause no harm? Does it dissolve and make the oil radioactive? 2. What is US sop if enemies attack with low-yield tactical nukes? Do you respond in kind? 3. What happens to 20-40% of the world's oil if a nuclear device is detonated deep inside the oil "pool?" My personal speculative answer to this question is "Not much."