The Star Tribune April 08, 2003
Search for 'smoking gun' is intense
By Sharon Schmickle
NASIRIYAH, IRAQ -- As the United States secures its hard-won control over former strongholds of the Iraqi military, an intense behind-the-scenes search is underway for evidence that could support Washington's justification for attacking this nation in the first place.
"We're looking for the ever-elusive smoking gun," said Capt. Jay Delarosa, a public affairs officer for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is occupying Nasiriyah in south central Iraq.
The smoking gun would be chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction, or the discovery of stocks of elements used to produce them, as well as a chemistry lab where the agents are manufactured.
Such a discovery would confirm Washington's assertion that Saddam Hussein's government has been cheating on rules established by the United Nations following the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Delarosa said.
Army soldiers searching a compound in central Iraq near the Karbala area found metal drums that may contain chemical weapons, although testing of samples has not been completed, U.S. military officials said Monday.
Laboratory tests in the United States are needed to confirm whether the drums found south of Baghdad contained chemical weapons, pesticides or something else, Pentagon officials said.
A unit of the Army's 101st Airborne Division searched the compound near Hindiyah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. CNN shot video of the search that showed soldiers in gas masks using hand-held chemical weapons detectors to investigate metal drums.
"This could be either some type of pesticide, because this was an agricultural compound," Gen. Benjamin Freakly told CNN. "On the other hand, it could be a chemical agent, not weaponized."
If confirmed as containing chemical agents that could be used in weapons, the drums found near Hindiyah would be the first components of weapons of mass destruction discovered in Iraq during the war.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday acknowledged reports about the possible chemical weapons site but said first reports often are incorrect.
"We have to take our time and look at it," he said, adding that getting samples to the United States and testing them can take days.
Sophisticated tests
A Knight Ridder News Service journalist traveling with the unit said initial tests of samples from the facility were inconsistent. Some tests did not indicate chemical weapons, while others indicated the presence of G-class nerve agents -- which include sarin and tabun -- and mustard agent, a blistering chemical first used in World War I.
Sophisticated tests are needed to confirm the presence of chemical weapons because nerve agents are chemically very similar to many pesticides.
Earlier reports about possible chemical weapons finds have turned out to be false alarms. Last week, for example, troops searching the Qaa Qaa military complex south of Baghdad found a white powder that was determined to be an explosive.
Iraq acknowledged making 3,859 tons of sarin, tabun, mustard and other chemical weapons, though U.N. weapons inspectors suspected Iraq could have made much more. Iraq used mustard and sarin against Iran during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and is believed to have used the chemicals against Kurdish Iraqis.
Sarin and tabun are related nerve agents that can kill when absorbed through the skin or inhaled as a gas. They kill by causing convulsions, paralysis and asphyxiation.
Mustard agent begins dissolving tissues on contact and is particularly harmful to eyes and lungs. It does not usually kill but causes painful injuries that can linger for a lifetime.
Nasiriyah illustrates the complexity of the search for such weapons. The first challenge is sifting through the rubble of war. Rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy fire have punched holes in buildings, leaving piles of brick, dust and sandy cement along streets flanking the Euphrates River.
Even without two weeks of intense fighting, finding something as compact as a chemistry lab -- or ingredients for one -- would have been difficult in this city of 250,000. It sprawls from shanty towns on the outskirts to handsome villas near the center, and searching building by building could take months. The difficulty is magnified in the larger cities of Baghdad and Basra.
Then there is the countryside. Marshes in the river valley southeast of Nasiriyah are suspected of containing a bioweapons test site, according to Globalsecurity.org.
U.S. and British forces haven't been hit by anthrax, nerve gas or any of the other biological and chemical agents they predicted Iraq was prepared to use against them.
U.S. armed forces prepared intensely to defend themselves against such attacks. A gas mask strapped to the left hip is obligatory for troops in Iraq. And there have been plenty of opportunities to practice using it when the cry "Gas! Gas! Gas!" sounded through a camp, often when an Iraqi missile was fired toward U.S. forces.
Dreaded attack
Since the war started, U.S. troops in combat zones have lived in trousers and jackets designed to protect against biological and chemical attacks. When midday temperatures started spiking over 100 degrees last week, the suits became more of a liability for troops who were on the move or in the sun.
Whether the dreaded attack comes when Saddam Hussein's inner circle makes its last stand, the United States and Britain want evidence that the U.N. rules were violated. They also are seeking evidence that could help convict Saddam and his top aides of war crimes.
Meanwhile, U.S. troops who have survived fierce battles are building cases of their own against Saddam's regime.
In a military training camp the Iraqis abandoned on the outskirts of Nasiriyah, U.S. Marines found murals that make their blood boil. One depicts a tattered and bullet-ridden U.S. flag with black boot prints on it. Another shows a mighty Iraqi fighter tightening a noose on the neck of a naked man draped by the American flag.
A third mural sums the response from the Marines. Originally it depicted an obscure black skyline against a pinkish background. Someone etched onto the skyline the unmistakable image of the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York that were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
With a black marker, someone also added the words "We Didn't Forget 9/11/01."
As it stands now, the mural is a potent statement by Marines who crushed the Iraqi opposition in this city, said Gunnery Sgt. James Dupont of a reserve Marine battalion based in Garden City, New York. Dupont is a former New York City police officer, and many other members of the battalion are fire fighters or rescue workers who had a direct stake in the terrorist attacks.
Although Iraq hasn't been directly connected with the 9/11 attacks, many U.S. troops see an indirect connection. The Garden City battalion carried to Iraq an American flag signed by relatives of the 9/11 victims.
The Associated Press and the New York Times contributed to this report.Sharon Schmickle is at sschmickle@startribune.com.
Copyright © 2003, Star Tribune
