Did you read this part from YOUR cite? "Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the results were from a field test, which can be imperfect, and said more analysis was needed. If confirmed, it would be the first finding of a banned weapon upon which the United States based its case for war." What were the results after more analysis? "'Sarin gas' just a pesticide " "Najaf - A facility near Baghdad that a US officer had said might finally be "smoking gun" evidence of Iraqi chemical weapons production turned out on Monday to contain pesticide, not sarin gas as feared. " "A military intelligence officer for the US 101st Airborne Division's aviation brigade, Captain Adam Mastrianni, told AFP that comprehensive tests determined the presence of the pesticide compounds. " "Initial tests had reportedly detected traces of sarin - a powerful toxin that quickly affects the nervous system - after US soldiers guarding the facility near Hindiyah, 100km south of Baghdad, fell ill." "Mastrianni said: "They thought it was a nerve agent. That's what it tested. But it is pesticide." " "The turnaround was an embarrbuttment for the US forces in the region, which had been quick to say that they thought they had finally found the proof they have been actively looking for that Iraq was hiding weapons of mbutt destruction. "
|