Active Unit News

U.S. troops detect lethal chemicals in drum of liquid
By Guy Taylor
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BAIJI, Iraq — Initial tests on a pile of 50-gallon drums found by U.S. troops near this small industrial town north of Baghdad came up positive for chemicals used to make weapons of mass destruction, military officials said. Top Stories "We've confirmed that we have a cyclo-sarin agent also known as CF," said Lt. Valerie Phipps, a chemical and biological weapons specialist with a reconnaissance element of the Army's 4th Infantry Division. Tests of the fluid inside one drum, conducted by soldiers using field equipment including kits with chemical test paper, "also detected mustard [agent], and we detected another unknown agent," Lt. Phipps said. Although military officials are waiting for more thorough tests on the fluid before calling the discovery of the 50-gallon drums a "smoking gun" for weapons of mass destruction, Lt. Phipps said that "usually, you don't get many false positives on mustard." Lt. Col. Ted Col. Martin, the unit's commander, would not say the discovery was the evidence so eagerly sought by U.S. officials after the defeat of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. But he said his soldiers "may have latched onto the fact that [Saddam] had proof-positive for weapons of mass destruction." Lt. Phipps said her unit with the 4th Infantry's 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, was sent to secure and investigate the suspicious-looking pile of drums late Friday, after a U.S. Special Forces team discovered it near Baiji. The town, home to one of Iraq's dozens of oil refineries, is on the western bank of the Tigris River about 20 miles north of Tikrit, birthplace of Saddam Hussein and a known pocket of his most loyal supporters. Before last week, no U.S. troops had operated thoroughly in the area around Baiji. Such units as the 101st Airborne Division and the Marines bypassed the town on their way to Mosul, about 80 miles to the north. Col. Martin, commander of 1st Squadron, said his soldiers located a total of 14 of the 50-gallon drums, which appeared to have been dumped hastily and were "sitting out in the wide open." Wearing gas masks and full-body protective suits, the soldiers punched a small hole in one drum to extract and conduct tests of the fluid inside. Col. Martin said a sarin agent combined with a mustard agent could make a "superweapon" concoction of the lethal chemicals. The fluid "looked clear in color like water," Lt. Phipps said. She said none of the other drums was opened. Soldiers also discovered about 100 gas masks near the 50-gallon drums and the remains of what Col. Martin said likely were two "mobile labs," which appeared to have been looted by Iraqi civilians. Several Iraqis who live nearby told soldiers through an interpreter that there were chemicals in the area, Col. Martin said. "To me, this is a pretty significant find," he said. "This is the first time I've had a soldier in my unit who can show me a piece of paper and say, 'Hey, this is positive for cyclo-sarin.' " U.S. military officials increasingly have felt pressure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — or at least find the agents that could be used to make chemical and biological weapons. Not only did U.S. troops cope with the threat of being attacked by such weapons, some worried that the international community and Americans back home would criticize the military if no chemical or biological agents are discovered. Before the war, President Bush aggressively touted the need to strip Saddam of his arsenal of chemical, biological and potentially nuclear weapons, which he said were hidden from United Nations weapons inspectors. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday that the hunt for Saddam's arsenal of such weapons is under way at numerous sites. "On a continuing basis, we get a report out of known sites," he said, "and it's still a long road. I mean, we're at a small fraction of the number of potential sites." One U.S. soldier said last night that before he was deployed to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom, it had bothered him deeply to see "all those actors in Hollywood" speaking out against the war. "Now that we're finding all these chemicals over here, we can go and shove it in their face," the soldier said. Other soldiers interviewed last week said that though they were concerned they might not find weapons of mass destruction, they were not afraid of what it would mean for the validity of the war effort. "There's no doubt [Saddam] had them," said Capt. Joseph W. Vongs, intelligence officer for the 4th Infantry's Aviation Brigade. "Of course, I'm concerned about how the world views the United States. If we don't find chemical weapons, yeah, it's gonna make the United States look bad." But, Capt. Vongs added, "I don't necessarily think it would make what we've done here any less justified." Standing last night by the pile of 50-gallon drums, Col. Martin said: "After seeing what I've seen in this country, we don't have to find weapons of mass destruction to justify this mission." Col. Martin appeared unfazed by the notion that his cavalry squadron, known as the "Buffalo Soldiers," might be on the verge of making history. Straining his voice to be heard over the noisy chopping of Army helicopters circling in the dark overhead, he said: "This is just another recon[naissance] mission to me." 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, was formed in 1866, when it consisted mainly of slaves freed after the Civil War. It won its nickname after battling armies of Indians in the Southwest. Indian fighters thought the hair on the heads of the freed blacks looked like Buffalo hair. US troops capture Iraqi airfield
26apr03 US forces have seized an airfield in the northeastern Iraqi city of Baqubah near the border with Iran along with a stash of missiles and dozens of people suspected of hiding weapons. Officers with the 4th Infantry Division said US troops detained 40 Iraqis but met no resistance as they moved into the airfield on the northern edge of the city in the early morning."This was not a military target but it will most likely become a forward operating base for us where we will push logistical assets," said Lieutenant Colonel Robert Valdivia. Two men were also detained outside the airbase after Iraqi military assault rifles were found in their van. Intelligence officers said they appeared to be arms dealers. Some soldiers reported seeing a vehicle mounted with a heavy machine gun fleeing from a village 15km outside the airport as the US troops approached. Local residents also pointed US troops to a stash of 12 Iraqi missiles which apparently had been left there by Iraqi soldiers several weeks ago. Valdivia said US regular forces had not yet established control in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province where several paramilitary groups are believed to be competing for control. "We did not meet any resistance but that does not mean there are not MEK or other non-compliant forces operating here in Baqubah," he said. MEK stands for Mujahedeen-e Khalq, or the People's Mujahedeen, the main armed Iranian opposition. The People's Mujahedeen was sheltered by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and its bases were targeted by the US-led coalition. However, the US military says it has reached a ceasefire agreement with the group. A spokesman for the mujahedeen has said the truce agreement allows the guerrillas to keep their arms and carry on their fight against Tehran.The Baqubah airport showed no signs of recent use but was littered with the remains of light and vintage aircraft including helicopters bearing the Iraqi flag which were bulldozed aside to make way for US tanks and fighting vehicles. More forces from the 4th Infantry's 2nd Brigade are expected to pour into the airfield in the coming days from where they will conduct operations throughout Diyala, between the Iranian border and the northeastern edge of Baghdad.US forces now control at least five air bases in the country. The Pentagon has denied press reports the United States is seeking a base for military operations in Iraq after an Iraqi government is established. In Mosul, attention turns toward needs of hospital But Iraqi doctors wary of U.S. medical officers
Associated Press Originally published April 27, 2003 MOSUL, Iraq - Until recently, Ammar Mahmood and Waleed Abmeed were lieutenants in the Iraqi army, treating soldiers at Mosul's Military Hospital who were wounded by U.S. bullets and bombs. On Friday, the two doctors met face-to-face with American soldiers offering help to get their hospital - which was looted in the waning days of the war - going again. The soldiers' visit was part of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division's effort to build relationships with civilians in Mosul and determine what the city needs. Some 300 people a day seek help from the facility in Iraq's third-largest city, but with no beds and severe shortages of medicine and supplies, doctors can provide only extremely limited outpatient treatment. Looters took most everything from the hospital, but the doctors said enough medicine and supplies had been returned that they were able to reopen a week ago. Since the city of 700,000 fell this month, tensions and violence have escalated between Arab residents and the Kurdish minority, although the situation has stabilized with the arrival of troops from the 4th Infantry and 101st Airborne divisions, who established zones of control last week. These days it is accidents, not violence, that brings most patients to the hospital, according to the doctors, the only two on duty Friday. Serious injuries are usually fatal. "If we can, we save them," Mahmood shrugged. "We do as much as we can." Capt. Rob Blankenship, 32, a doctor with the 4th Infantry's 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, told the Iraqis the Army could provide supplies, medicine and maybe even doctors and nurses. "You guys need supplies and we're going to see how we can help out," Blankenship told the two doctors in their dusty office. While the doctors appeared happy with the offer of medicine, they were apprehensive about working with U.S. military medical officers. "We need nothing from the Americans," Mahmood told the Associated Press after talking with the soldiers. Mahmood said the hospital would be best served by more American patrols on the streets. "We need the peace more than we need the drugs," he said. Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun