Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Islamic State fired crude chemical weapons on US troops – Pentagon
Source: The Guardian
Islamic State fired crude chemical weapons on US troops – Pentagon
Powdered mustard used in attack on airbase near Mosul in Iraq,
raising questions about whether the militant group is manufacturing
the agent itself
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Thursday 22 September 2016 02.28 BST
Islamic State forces have fired crude chemical weapons at US troops in Iraq, the Pentagon has confirmed, a startling disclosure that US officials promptly downplayed as resulting in no deaths or injuries.
The attack came from a powdered mustard agent delivered in a mortar or rocket shell and fired on US forces on Tuesday at the Qayyarah West airbase near Mosul. The airbase, recaptured from Isis in July, is a pivotal staging ground for a highly anticipated attack on Mosul, Isis’s capital in Iraq approximately 40 miles (65km) to the north.
Mustard, a banned chemical weapon, is relatively easy to manufacture and has a low incidence of lethality in all but extreme doses, such as the bombardment that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used on Kurdish civilians and Iranian soldiers in the 1980s and early 1990s.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Powdered mustard used in attack on airbase near Mosul in Iraq,
raising questions about whether the militant group is manufacturing
the agent itself
Spencer Ackerman in New York
Thursday 22 September 2016 02.28 BST
Islamic State forces have fired crude chemical weapons at US troops in Iraq, the Pentagon has confirmed, a startling disclosure that US officials promptly downplayed as resulting in no deaths or injuries.
The attack came from a powdered mustard agent delivered in a mortar or rocket shell and fired on US forces on Tuesday at the Qayyarah West airbase near Mosul. The airbase, recaptured from Isis in July, is a pivotal staging ground for a highly anticipated attack on Mosul, Isis’s capital in Iraq approximately 40 miles (65km) to the north.
Mustard, a banned chemical weapon, is relatively easy to manufacture and has a low incidence of lethality in all but extreme doses, such as the bombardment that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used on Kurdish civilians and Iranian soldiers in the 1980s and early 1990s.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/22/islamic-state-fired-crude-chemical-weapons-on-us-troops-pentagon
