Why Were Iraq Chemical WMD Stored At The United Nations?
Chemical Weapons Scare at U.N. Headquarters
United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous chemical warfare agent, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York, federal authorities tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The federal authorities said the office, in a U.N. building near headquarters, was being evacuated and the White House had been notified at 10 a.m.
The vials were discovered at the headquarters of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), which led the inspections of possible chemical and biological weapons in Iraq. The items were recovered from a former Iraqi chemical weapons facility, Al Muthanna, back in 1996, but just noticed on an inventory list yesterday, according to UNMOVIC.
A WMD investigative team and hazmat units are responding to the incident, according to a law enforcement source.
The FBI New York Field Office will be disposing of these vials.
New York police and fire officials reported to the scene.
The Department of Homeland Security notified the New York City police commissioner later this morning.
The United Nations said today that following the discovery of the items, "UNMOVIC chemical weapons experts sealed the packages and placed them in a safe, which was then isolated in a secured room."
Former U.N. weapons inspectors told ABCNews.com that vials of phosgene had also been used by inspectors in Iraq to help calibrate air sampling instruments.
The former inspectors said the remaining vials were supposed to have been destroyed.
"If it is properly sealed, it should not pose much of a threat unless it is dropped," said former New York City emergency services director Jerry Hauer, an ABC News consultant.
"They need to get it out of there and put it in a safe canister," Hauer said. "It shows immense stupidity to have that kind of thing sitting around as a souvenir."
UNMOVIC said today that normally such items would have been transported directly to a laboratory, not sent to headquarters in New York, but that now they believe the items "are properly secured and pose no immediate risk or danger to the immediate public."
According to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control, phosgene at room temperature is a poisonous, colorless gas with a suffocating odor like newly mown hay.
According to an article in Foreign Affairs, the chemical was allegedly used by Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war in 1987.
Phosgene was used extensively during World War I as a "choking agent" and, according to the CDC Web site, among the chemicals used in the war, it was responsible for the large majority of deaths.
The chemical also has numerous commercial applications in the manufacture of plastics and pesticides.
Story Here
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Gee, I wonder what else the United Nations has hidden from us from Iraq? And what all do they have stashed or stored from Iraq, Iran and God knows from where else?
United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous chemical warfare agent, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York, federal authorities tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.
The federal authorities said the office, in a U.N. building near headquarters, was being evacuated and the White House had been notified at 10 a.m.
The vials were discovered at the headquarters of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), which led the inspections of possible chemical and biological weapons in Iraq. The items were recovered from a former Iraqi chemical weapons facility, Al Muthanna, back in 1996, but just noticed on an inventory list yesterday, according to UNMOVIC.
A WMD investigative team and hazmat units are responding to the incident, according to a law enforcement source.
The FBI New York Field Office will be disposing of these vials.
New York police and fire officials reported to the scene.
The Department of Homeland Security notified the New York City police commissioner later this morning.
The United Nations said today that following the discovery of the items, "UNMOVIC chemical weapons experts sealed the packages and placed them in a safe, which was then isolated in a secured room."
Former U.N. weapons inspectors told ABCNews.com that vials of phosgene had also been used by inspectors in Iraq to help calibrate air sampling instruments.
The former inspectors said the remaining vials were supposed to have been destroyed.
"If it is properly sealed, it should not pose much of a threat unless it is dropped," said former New York City emergency services director Jerry Hauer, an ABC News consultant.
"They need to get it out of there and put it in a safe canister," Hauer said. "It shows immense stupidity to have that kind of thing sitting around as a souvenir."
UNMOVIC said today that normally such items would have been transported directly to a laboratory, not sent to headquarters in New York, but that now they believe the items "are properly secured and pose no immediate risk or danger to the immediate public."
According to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control, phosgene at room temperature is a poisonous, colorless gas with a suffocating odor like newly mown hay.
According to an article in Foreign Affairs, the chemical was allegedly used by Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war in 1987.
Phosgene was used extensively during World War I as a "choking agent" and, according to the CDC Web site, among the chemicals used in the war, it was responsible for the large majority of deaths.
The chemical also has numerous commercial applications in the manufacture of plastics and pesticides.
Story Here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gee, I wonder what else the United Nations has hidden from us from Iraq? And what all do they have stashed or stored from Iraq, Iran and God knows from where else?
Labels: Iraq Chemical WMD Stored At UN
posted by Marie's Two Cents | 9:10 AM
12 Comments:
OMG dont get me started on the UN Marie............buncha goons!
This comment has been removed by the author.
Don't forget Jennifer: we funded Saddam and Osama. They were our friends.
Why ? Because Saddam had to have somewhere to hide them and the UN was his buddy!
This stinks to high heaven and it is being down played as nothing!
This is being downplayed for sure. I hadn't heard about it until I saw your post, Marie! Great find!
The UN should be kicked out of America. We could turn the building into something useful.
Gayle said...The UN should be kicked out of America. We could turn the building into something useful.
We could turn it into a multi level parking lot to recoup all the unpaid parking tickets and traffic violations that UN delegates rack up but don't pay because they have diplomatic immunity.
Well, now we know where the WMDs went……
The inspectors said they were remaining vials and that they were supposed to have been destroyed.
Humm, lets look at that statement again. What exactly do thy mean by “remaining”? REMAINING FROM WHAT? From the WMD that they claimed they couldn’t find?
and I always thought the WMDs were in Syria - hmmmmmm.
If I still lived in NY, I'd be wondering, with some degree of concern, what other WMD "samples" might be laying around at Turtle Bay that might accidentally be unleashed on my city.
Materials like that should not even exist in the custody of grossly irresponsible people who can actually misplace and forget them like this.
And in a large population center, to boot!
LOL...even Bush said that Iraq did not have any WMD and that Iraq played no part in 9/11.
Put down the kool-aid and walk away...
Federalist,
Oh Please!
I dont care what President Bush said about WMD!
Saddam had it, he used it on his own people AND the Iranians, and alot of intelligence point to large shipments of "Earthquake Aid" heading to Syria!
Too many tuckloads to be Earthquake Aid and right before we were going to enter Country?
C'mon, is anyone needs to put down the kool-aid it's you!
Still, to this date, no WMD found.
Fact.
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