[b.2.] [b.2.] SUBJECT: CRISIS ORDER OF BATTLE AS OF 290000Z AUGUST 1990 /*********** THIS IS A COMBINED MESSAGE ************/ [b.1. sec. 1.5.(c)] 5. (U) CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE: A. AGENTS. THE IRAQIS POSSESS FOUR CONFIRMED CW AGENTS AND ARE KNOWN TO WE DEVELOPING THREE OTHERS. ALL THE CONFIRMED AGENTS WERE USED DURING THE IRAN/IRAQ WAR AND INCLUDE THE NERVE AGENTS, TABUN, SARIN AND GF, AND THE BLISTER AGENT MUSTARD IN LIQUID FORM AND IMPREGNATED ON DUST. OTHER CW AGENTS IN DEVELOPMENT INCLUDE THE PERSISTENT NERVE AGENT VX, THE SEMIPERSISTENT NERVE AGENT SOMAN, AND THE HALLUCINOGEN BZ. PRESENTLY, IRAQ IS ASSESSED TO BE ON THE VERGE OF PRODUCING VX IF IT HAS NOT DONE SO ALREADY. THE TECHNOLOGY IS AVAILABLE AND THE PRECURSOR CHEMICALS FOR VX HAVE BEEN IN PLACE TO PRODUCE HUNDREDS OF TONS SINCE 1988. B. CHEMICAL WEAPONS. THE IRAQIS ARE CAPABLE OF DELIVERING CW AGENTS BY MORTAR, A VARIETY OF TUBE ARTILLERY, SURFACE-TO-SURFACE ROCKETS, AIR-TO-SURFACE ROCKETS, AND AERIAL BOMBS. IRAQ MAY HAVE BINARY WARHEADS FOR ARTILLERY SHELLS IN ADDITION TO UNITARY VERSIONS. C. DIA BELIEVES IRAQ HAS CHEMICAL WARHEADS FOR ITS SURFACE-TO-SURFACE FROG, SCUD AND/OR SCUD-TYPES VARIANTS MISSILES. THE NUMBER OF WARHEADS IS UNKNOWN BUT BELIEVED TO BE LIMITED. IF THE CW WARHEADS ARE BINARY, THE ONLY KNOWN AGENTS SUITABLE WOULD BE SARIN AND GF. IF UNITARY CW WARHEADS ARE AVAILABLE, PERSISTENT AGENTS MUSTARD AND VX (IF AVAILABLE), OR SEMI-PERSISTENT AGENTS OF AN TABUN, WOULD BE THE MOST LIKELY AGENTS. [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)] D. IRAQ IS A KNOWN PRODUCER OF BW AGENTS ANTHRAX AND BOTULINUM TOXIN. BAGHDAD HAS THE TECHNOLOGICAL ABILITY TO WEAPONIZE THESE AGENTS AND MAY ALREADY HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF BW MUNITIONS. DIA BELIEVES IRAQ WILL HAVE DEPLOYED MUNITIONS FILLED WITH THESE BW AGENTS BY THE END OF 1990. E. DIA BELIEVES THAT IRAQ MAY HAVE DEPLOYED CHEMICAL MUNITIONS SOON AFTER THE INVASION OF KUWAIT AND MAY HAVE MOVED CHEMICAL ARTILLERY AND AIR DELIVERABLE CHEMICAL MUNITIONS TO BUNKERS AT AIRBASES AND AT CORPS LEVEL LOGISTIC CENTERS. THIS DEPLOYMENT IS NOT CONSIDERED AN INDICATION OF IMMINENT CHEMICAL USE, BUT RATHER IRAQI PREPARATION FOR A VARIETY OF CONTINGENCIES.
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