"US prepares to use toxic gases in Iraq"

[Demerzel]

looks like you got those nasal passages all cleaned out.

if CS is "mildly unpleasant" and is a lesser gas, I wonder how more excrutiating painful / deadly the newly developed ones are?

I don't envy all 42,000 of our servicemen out there if this happens and they get to experience the enemy's retaliation/first-strike*.

*delete as applicable.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Sprayber


They gave us our final week to be at home. I leave Monday, after our second anthrax shot.

Good Luck! Have confidence that you are doing the right thing and don't gas the natives! (unless they gas you first)

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Demerzel
Well we all know sprayber that those drill sergeants of yours like to inflict a bit of pain but yes WoMD is too strong unless they chuck in some old sweat socks too

I don't know. He was a really mean bastard. It didn't help that he was shorter than most of us and it was hard not to laugh when he started cussing one of us out. Although, i didnt laugh when i had his attention.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Sprayber


They gave us our final week to be at home. I leave Monday, after our second anthrax shot.

Here is what the aftermath of our gassing was like at Fort Sill.

I got mine at Fort Leanord Wood. There was a huge tree just outside the exit door there. Apparently they got tired of recruits running into it, becuase they stationed our biggest drill sergeant there to keep us from doing just that.

All the best Spray, I'll be thinking of you and my many other friends who are there. Drop us a line if you can and let us know how you are doing.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by PLATO1003


Good Luck! Have confidence that you are doing the right thing and don't gas the natives! (unless they gas you first)

The only gas my unit will be spreading is when one of the privates has to go burn the outdoor toilets.

[Demerzel]

Heh shortarse eh? Good ol' inferiority complex goes with the lack of height.

Good luck out there. Can you refuse the anthrax shot in the US military? And would you if you could?

Half the British troops refused to take the shots over fears of side-effects.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Sikander


I got mine at Fort Leanord Wood. There was a huge tree just outside the exit door there. Apparently they got tired of recruits running into it, becuase they stationed our biggest drill sergeant there to keep us from doing just that.

All the best Spray, I'll be thinking of you and my many other friends who are there. Drop us a line if you can and let us know how you are doing.

I was thinking when we went in that it would be no big deal. I soon learned different.

We will have internet access, but just for emails for friends and family. I'll get word to someone and have them start an update thread. Lonestar will be heading that way later on so he will be the second poly poster over there.

edit: of course our esteemed Israeli posters are already near

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Demerzel
Heh shortarse eh? Good ol' inferiority complex goes with the lack of height.

Good luck out there. Can you refuse the anthrax shot in the US military? And would you if you could?

Half the British troops refused to take the shots over fears of side-effects.

When they gave us the first shot they handed out a thick brochure about antrhax. As far as I understood, we could not refuse the shot. What most people seem to have trouble with is the second (one i get Monday). After that there are 4 other shots in the series.

[Demerzel]

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/anthrax990312.html

^^ ouch. refuse to take a possibly unsafe injection and get discharged dishonourably.

Sounds almost as bad IIRC as the old rabies injections which were about 20 in total and all painful as buggery to have done.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Sprayber



When they gave us the first shot they handed out a thick brochure about antrhax. As far as I understood, we could not refuse the shot. What most people seem to have trouble with is the second (one i get Monday). After that there are 4 other shots in the series.

It can't be any worse than the cholera shots I got as a kid, when we lived in Asia. My whole arm would swell up, and I'd be sick as a dog for a couple of days. We had to have one every 6 months.

[Demerzel]

Originally posted by Sikander


It can't be any worse than the cholera shots I got as a kid, when we lived in Asia. My whole arm would swell up, and I'd be sick as a dog for a couple of days. We had to have one every 6 months.

I think its more related to worries of possible long term side effects like cancer. Though short-term wise that does sound incredibly unpleasant.

[Lung]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper

You'll have to refresh my memory: When does the United States military plan on using nerve agents and mustard gas on Iraq? Or are we comparing CS/pepper spray-like material use here to Iraq's possible use of its own chemical and biological stores on any U.S. forces, should a war become reality?

Well, by all accounts they plan on developing new ones we haven't even heard of yet. Sure, they may be less toxic than others, but once you've muddied the water, how are you going to stop others from using theirs? Also, the continued use of land mines and the development of blinding weapons sends a message to the rest of the world that you will do whatever you want. The hypocrisy is astounding.

If Bush thinks it's justified, then try and legalise it. Otherwise, all you're doing is creating an environment where any military leader can do whatever they please. Bring back the good old days of torture as a military/political tool

**whistles** I guess we'd better stick to goddamn machine guns then for riot control.

Yes, but your police don't shoot rioters after they're incapacitated from capsicum spray

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Demerzel


As said above, 'oh the irony'. The USA is planning to use chemical weapons to defeat a nation that they are going to war with because they say that it will use its chemical weapons on others.

I'd like to see the US/pro-war bunch defend this decision.

Sure. Glad to oblige, though I'm not particularly pro-war. First, let's forget the pepper spray and tear gas (CS) because those are uniformly non-lethal. Dosage control with calmative agents is problematic, but the application discussed was taking out command and control bunkers underground. The other methods of neutralizing those facilities involve inflicting 100% fatalities, so 9% ain't that bad.

The difference is that we are not going to use high-lethality agents applied with intent to kill over a large area. IF we use these agents at all, it is going to be very specialized applications on 100% military targets that are extraordinarily hard to get to any other way. And we may not have to use them at all - if the Iraqis realize those C&C bunkers ain't safe places to be, they'll tend to leave on their own, like they did in forward bunkers the first time, one they realized we just systematically squished bunkers with whatever happens to be in them.

Even us the British, the staunchest allies of the USA, are pissed off at this decision. If we're going to war to defeat a dictator who'll use WoMD, we're not going to want to fight alongside a non-dictator who uses WoMD.

There's a huge distinction. It's like comparing a .22 caliber bullet to a 15,000 lb. "daisycutter" bomb.

Nothing like a fair fight eh?

In war? Hell no. War is about relentlessly killing the enemy in the most efficient way possible, until he loses the will to resist. It's an ugly ****ing business. However, the better one side is at it, the sooner it can be done with.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by DanS
Every gas is toxic.

No, none of the inert gases are toxic.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by PLATO1003


While this is an excellent point, these people will be afforded the opportunity to surrender. Hopefully they will.

When you engage bunkers at close range, where you can potentially be targeted from other bunkers, or where the bastards can call artillery down on their own positions (they being safely inside, you being ****ed on the outside - the Germans were very fond of this with their fortifications in WW2), the enemy's opportunity to surrender happens before you go up to the bunker. If he doesn't get his ass out ahead of time and clearly signal his intention to surrender, sucks to be him. It's your own life and the lives of the men in your unit you're putting at risk.