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U.S. troops exposed to chlorine gas

Jan-31-2008 » Filed Under: 4/2 SBCT

By Richard Tomkins, The Washington Times

BAQOUBA, Iraq — Two dozen U.S. soldiers and their interpreters were rushed to a hospital by helicopter this week from Diyala province's "bread basket" after being exposed to chlorine gas while destroying an al Qaeda explosives cache.

Military sources said all but four of the 26 persons were quickly returned to duty. The remainder stayed longer at the U.S. military hospital at Ballad, northeast of Baghdad, for additional observation.

"It was really ... scary," said a soldier who was on the scene and requested anonymity. "We saw the strange color to the cloud and ran to help. We had to use litters as bridges across a canal to reach them. It was a 200-[yard] run each way."

Lt. Col. Patrick Mackin, intelligence officer for the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, confirmed the incident. He said it occurred Tuesday about one mile north of Himbus.

The gas was in a metal cylinder, one of 19 found that usually hold propane but that al Qaeda packs with explosives for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

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Comments For "U.S. troops exposed to chlorine gas":

After reading the article by Richard Tomkins from The Washington Times (posted online)I have a concern with the presentation of the information it contains and/ or some serious concerns for the safety of our troops. If the information presentated in the article is correct and that it was no suprise that the gas cylinders might contain chlorine gas, then there is a serious problem with the lack of situtational awareness on the part of the US Explosive Ordnance team (including its leadership on site)that chose to dispose of the discovered weapons when they did. However, if the information in the article is inaccurate and this was an unfortunate accident, there appears to be a lack of information provided to the troops about the dangers of weapons the enemy may be capable of producing and their willingness create and to use such weapons. In either case there needs to be some additional training/ briefings given to all involved (Soldiers, NCO's and Commanders).

Posted by: StrykerUncle [TypeKey Profile Page] | January 31, 2008 9:51 PM

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