Do you think the 500 chemical weapons found are real, and if so what are the implications?

Question

*Please read the link below first, and try not to give a partisan answer (both sides I'm addressing).


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060622/wl_afp/uscongressiraqweaponschemical_060622103838

Answer 1

I do believe they were real. However, according to Fox News:

Offering the official administration response to FOX News, a senior Defense Department official pointed out that the chemical weapons were not in useable conditions.

"This does not reflect a capacity that was built up after 1991," the official said, adding the munitions "are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had, and not the WMDs for which this country went to war."

I don't feel there are any implications as this point as it really doesn't prove much. As far as whether or not they were too old, I asked my fiancee who worked in bioterrorism if they have an expiration date. This was his answer:

"It all depends on how well it's kept. If it was kept in a metallic can from the 1940's which has rusted and allowed minute cracks in the structure to allow slight bit of water to get to it. It won't take long. If it was sealed in a modern plastic/polyurethane drum with no chance of seepage in or out, perhaps indefinitely. Once water touches sulfur mustard, it takes about 8 minutes or so to be completely ineffective."

Answer 2

Lol I read about this on the Fox News website. Oh how I laughed so hard. That website really is the funniest around. I especially like the way they expect people to believe any old crap.