NPR reports that chemical weapon loaded missiles have been found in Iraq. The NPR story attributes the news to an officer in the 101st Airborne Division, but a Yahoo story says NPR attributed it to an officer in the 1st Marine Division. The latter attribution matches my memory of what I heard on NPR while driving into work this morning.
That division’s commander, Joe Dowdy, was relieved of his post on Saturday. There’s been no explanation of why yet, which is not necessarily alarming, but man. Part of me wonders whether the two stories could be linked. Part of me says “That’s silly; if he was relieved of duty for refusing to report fake WMD evidence, the truth would come out pretty quickly.” The second part wins after a short battle, but the story bears watching.
Update: Reuters says the missiles were found by Marines travelling with the 101st, which clears that up a little. This is not the same find as the barrels of possible sarin found at an agricultural facility. Busy day.
One Comment
Here’s the best “where the hell did that information actually come from?” summary I’ve come across yet:
http://msnbc.com/news/895392.asp?0sl=-32
“National Public Radio reported that an officer with the U.S. 1st Marine Division had said the warheads contained sarin and mustard agent.
The officer, who said he heard of the discovery over a military intelligence network…”
So I guess that becomes a third-hand report. And at this point, it’s 24 hours old, and still unconfirmed.
Hang on, USA Today to the rescue.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-07-unmask-usat_x.htm
“U.S. intelligence officials said other elements of the 101st might have found chemical agents on rockets in western Baghdad. Initial tests at the site suggested that two BM-21 rockets carried traces of sarin, a lethal nerve agent, and mustard gas, a “blister agent” that causes incapacitating burns.”
I’m assuming that’s just misreporting, it’s a pretty dumb article.