Islamic State (IS) forces have fired crude chemical weapons at U.S. troops in Iraq, the Pentagon has confirmed, a startling disclosure that U.S. officials promptly downplayed as resulting in no deaths or injuries.
The attack came from a powdered mustard agent delivered in a mortar or rocket shell and fired on U.S. forces on Tuesday at the Qayyarah West air base near Mosul. The air base, recaptured from the IS in July, is a pivotal staging ground for a highly anticipated attack on Mosul.
Mustard weapon
Mustard, a banned chemical weapon, is most dangerous when concocted in a gas form, but Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman stated on Wednesday evening that tests performed indicated that the IS had delivered the “imprecise and crude” weapon in a powdered state.
The use of chemical weapons on U.S. forces, however ineffectual, raised ominous echoes of the ultimately false rationale cited by the George W. Bush administration for invading and occupying Iraq from 2003 to 2011. While Saddam Hussein turned out to have destroyed his chemical stockpiles before the invasion, some older unconventional weaponry had survived and was used on a handful of U.S. soldiers and marines, T he New York Times has reported .
Precursor materials
Some chemical agents and precursor materials for their manufacture had been stored on Iraqi territory formerly controlled by IS. The U.S. military has insisted since 2014 that there is no evidence IS obtained access to them. Alternatively, some of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s substantial chemical stocks have been known to survive a 2013 agreement brokered by Russia and backed by the U.S. for their destruction.
Although the indirect-fire attack did not harm U.S. forces, it appeared to foreshadow what U.S. and Iraqi forces are in for when the long-delayed offensive to retake the vital city of Mosul begins.
The attack came from a powdered mustard agent delivered in a mortar or rocket shell and fired on U.S. forces on Tuesday at the Qayyarah West air base near Mosul. The air base, recaptured from the IS in July, is a pivotal staging ground for a highly anticipated attack on Mosul.
Mustard weapon
Mustard, a banned chemical weapon, is most dangerous when concocted in a gas form, but Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman stated on Wednesday evening that tests performed indicated that the IS had delivered the “imprecise and crude” weapon in a powdered state.
The use of chemical weapons on U.S. forces, however ineffectual, raised ominous echoes of the ultimately false rationale cited by the George W. Bush administration for invading and occupying Iraq from 2003 to 2011. While Saddam Hussein turned out to have destroyed his chemical stockpiles before the invasion, some older unconventional weaponry had survived and was used on a handful of U.S. soldiers and marines, T he New York Times has reported .
Precursor materials
Some chemical agents and precursor materials for their manufacture had been stored on Iraqi territory formerly controlled by IS. The U.S. military has insisted since 2014 that there is no evidence IS obtained access to them. Alternatively, some of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s substantial chemical stocks have been known to survive a 2013 agreement brokered by Russia and backed by the U.S. for their destruction.
Although the indirect-fire attack did not harm U.S. forces, it appeared to foreshadow what U.S. and Iraqi forces are in for when the long-delayed offensive to retake the vital city of Mosul begins.