What is mustard gas and how would the scars be ? I can't seem to put the book down, I know alot of our troops came home sick with illness' but I don't know what this gas is, how it affects one.
2007-09-11 11:45:28 · 5 answers · asked by luvmyhubby 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
Mustard "gas" really isn't a gas -- it is an oily liquid that can evaporate. Both the liquid and vapors react on the skin (especially moist skin), attacking the DNA in skin cells and causing cell death. The body responds by attempting to dilute the toxic material, which forms blisters, very similar to that of a second degree burn. Inhaling mustard vapors causes the tissues of the trachea to die off and separate in fibrous sheets, which can block the airway and cause suffocation. Deeper in the lungs, it destroys the alveoli.
Mustard was used heavily during World War I because it was able to cause casualties in masked personnel -- something that got increasingly difficult to do as the protective masks became more sophisticated and effective as the war progressed.
However, there was NO mustard agent used by either side during either War with Iraq. US Veterans have NOT come home with mustard exposures.
Saddam Hussein DID use mustard, however, against the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War (1980 - 1988), and against the Kurds during the "Anfal" campaign of extermination.
2007-09-11 14:51:39 · answer #1 · answered by Dave_Stark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No mustard gas was used by Iraq against any of the forces in Operation Desert Storm. Hussein did use chemical warfare agents against the Kurds in Northern Iraq and he did use mustard gas on Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq War.
Mustard gas is a blistering agent which causes severe burns to the outer body and triggers fluid buildup in the lungs, resulting in death. It was outlawed by a treaty after its use in World War One was considered to be inhumane in land warfare.
2007-09-11 12:26:40 · answer #2 · answered by desertviking_00 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Read this for more iunformation about mustard gas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustard_gas There is a picture from WW1 of a soldier burned by mustard gas here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mustard_gas_burns.jpg
2007-09-11 11:54:18 · answer #3 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Below is a wikipedia article with photo. Horrible stuff from World War I.
This is my help from Washington, D.C. USA.
2007-09-11 11:59:45 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There was no type of mustard gas used in Iraq. I heard though that they used chlorine bombs though.
2007-09-11 13:24:35 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋