For crying out loud, are war supporters still<\/i> making the case for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Forget shame, don’t these guys want to shy away from utter humiliation?<\/p>\n
Apparently not.<\/p>\n
Redstate ran an item<\/a> yesterday, highlighting an article<\/a> from the far-right Washington Times, which noted that U.S. troops found “31 barrels of nitric acid Saturday in the walled-off front yard of a house that had been raided less than two weeks earlier.” RS labeled the nitric acid a chemical weapon and talked up<\/a> the implications of all of this with considerable excitement.<\/p>\n So, the bad guys are making chemical weapons in Iraq…chemical weapons are classified by the UN as WMDs…so there are WMDs in Iraq…wait. That can’t be right. The reality-based community said they weren’t.<\/p>\n Ditto al-Qaeda in Iraq – they definitely<\/i> aren’t there. Wait…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It’s hard to believe that as the war in Iraq starts its fifth year, war supporters remain completely convinced that long-settled disputes about WMD and al Qaeda are not only still open to debate, but that well-established truths are all wrong.<\/p>\n But as long as high-profile conservative blogs are going to take the time to disseminate nonsense, I suppose we should take the time to debunk it. Nitric acid is one of the big three common strong inorganic acids, hydrochloric and sulfuric being the other two. It wouldn’t be practical as a chemical weapon and there’s no way to make it so. Of the three acids mentioned, it’s the easiest to handle, although all are common and pose no threat when clearly labeled. Burns skin slowly, staining it yellow. Is not particularly hazardous if spilled although you wouldn’t want to walk in it. In terms of inorganic acid spills, HCl [hydrochloric acid] makes a bigger and far more noticeable mess. And as a corrosive directly against skin, sulfuric acid is the worst of the three. None have any application as chemical weapons in the classic sense.<\/p>\n HN03 [nitric acid] can be used to make homemade TNT — although why this would be necessary in Iraq is beyond me. You would have suspected to find a lot of toluene and sulfuric acid, too, if this were the case.<\/p>\n Looks like the diversion of industrial chemicals, hoping they’ll get lucky with something. That won’t happen with the level of savvy which seems to be indicated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\nChemistry PhD, Globalsecurity.org senior fellow, and blogger extraordinaire George Smith talked to Danger Room and set the record straight<\/a>.<\/p>\n