Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

History of Chemical Warfaresarin- and mustard-agent–filled munitions, and thatas many as 20,000 US soldiers may have been exposedto chemical agents as a result. 214 Afterward a Pentagonspokesperson, commenting on the continuing researchinto the possible exposure, said, “Our understandingof this episode is still partial.” 213(pA-10)Additional Allegations of Chemical WarfareShortly after the fighting between Iraq and coalitionforces ended, reports circulated that Hussein wasusing chemical agents against rebellious Kurds andShiite Muslims. The United States intercepted a messageordering the use of chemical weapons against thecities of Najaf and Karbala. President Bush’s responsewas that such use of chemical weapons would resultin air strikes against the Iraqi military organizationusing the chemicals. Thus, despite the end of fighting,Iraqi chemical weapons continued to be a problem forthe world. 215,216US intelligence sources also detected increasedchemical development activity in Libya. A Libyanchemical weapons plant at Rabta had produced about100 tons of agent by 1990, when Libya claimed thatthe plant was destroyed by a fire. New disclosuressurfaced in 1996 that Libya was constructing a secondchemical production plant at Tarhunah. US intelligencesources claimed that this would be the largestunderground chemical weapons plant in the world,covering roughly 6 square miles and situated in ahollowed-out mountain. Because Scud missiles havea range of 180 to 300 miles, Libya’s neighbors wereconsiderably threatened. Libya strongly denied theUS accusation. 217,218Preventing Chemical Warfare and Terrorism in the 21s t CenturyDespite the signing of long-sought Chemical WeaponsConvention by the United States, Russia, and othercountries, and the start of large-scale chemical weaponsdestruction programs in the 1990s (see Chapter 4),the beginning of the 21st century saw a sudden anddramatic change in the interest in chemical warfare.The events of 2001 made US post offices, governmentbuildings, hospitals, and media headquarters the frontlines in a new war on terrorism.Operation Enduring FreedomThe new war began on September 11, 2001, whenfour commercial planes were hijacked. Two crashedinto the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon,and one crashed in rural Pennsylvania before reachingits apparent target in Washington, DC. Nearly4,000 people died in the destruction and aftermath,including many first responders. Almost immediatelyAl Qaeda, under the control of Osama binLaden, was identified as the perpetrator. Althoughthe terrorists were protected by the ruling party inAfghanistan, the Taliban, the United States began amilitary counterstrike.In October 2001 the United States launched massiveair attacks against Afghanistan. Special Forces troopsentered the war to assist the Northern Alliance in theirongoing rebellion against the Taliban. In NovemberOsama bin Laden notified the world that he hadchemical and nuclear weapons, but would only usethem if the United States used them first. A few dayslater, the Northern Alliance captured Kabul. Duringadditional campaigns in Afghanistan, coalition forcesdiscovered a chemical laboratory and training filmsdepicting chemical agents killing dogs, but they didnot discover any chemical weapons.Russian Use of a Nonlethal Chemical AgentThroughout 2002 Russia continued to experienceterrorist incidents related to its war in Chechnya. InOctober Chechnyan terrorists took over a Moscowtheater and held over 900 people hostage. The terroristsstrapped on explosives and positioned themselvesamong the hostages. After failing to obtain their objectives,the terrorists began executing hostages. Russiansecurity forces flooded the theater with a chemicalagent identified in the press as fentanyl, a nonlethalgas. Russian special forces stormed the theater andmost of the terrorists were killed by gunfire; however,over 118 of the hostages died from the effects of thegas.At first the Russian government kept the identity ofthe gas secret from the world and from its own medicalfacilities. It was not until a week after the incidentthat the Russians finally identified the gas, leadingto a strong public debate about whether Russia hadviolated the Chemical Weapons Convention.Operation Iraqi FreedomDissatisfied with Iraq’s noncompliance with theUN mandates that concluded the Persian Gulf War,the United States repeatedly bombed Iraq throughout2000 and 2001. Of particular concern to the UnitedStates was Iraq’s failure to report all its chemical warfareresearch and weapons productions. Iraq reportedlyrestricted its chemical weapons programs after65