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Just a drop in the bucket
I read with interest the article you published on Aug. 22 (LA Times) on the Syrian chemical weapons and John Kerry’s statement on the 600 tons of sarin/mustard agents captured and destroyed on the MSC military cargo ship in the Mediterranean. I believe the 600 tons is a drop in the bucket after my experiences over there.
Shortly before “Iraqi Freedom” started in March 2003 I was in Israel for a month or so on an MSC “reserve breakout ship” carrying military cargo/ DOD plus 4ID personnel deployed on the Northern Invasion Group off the coast of Turkey. After three weeks the Turkish government denied us access through their country and the vessel was deployed to Haifa, Israel to undergo boiler repairs before deployment to the Persian Gulf via the Suez Canal. I was on an assignment as a REO/OP’s officer onboard one of the breakout cape ships. At this time I had frequent contact with some members of the DOD and State Department with occasional meetings with Israeli personnel. (My duties required me to handle classified documents and secure communications systems). After a few weeks I learned that Saddam Hussein had started shipping out several 40-foot containers to Syria. (These containers contained almost 100 tons of WMDs including VX, sarin gas and several other types of chemical weapons and associated equipment.) The Syrian defense minister’s son arranged the deal with Saddam. About $50 million exchanged hands!
A year or so after that, al-Qaeda members were caught on the Jordanian border with 20 tons of chemicals (VX, sarin gas) ready to wreak havoc on the people of Jordan. I had previously completed a few CBRD courses before being deployed in Desert Storm/Desert Thunder and not an expert by far, but I understand that up to 100,000 people could have been killed in Jordan with that amount of VX, sarin gas.
If I did my math correctly, there are many more tons of chemical weapons left over there. ISIS maybe stocking up on this deadly stuff by now!
Ed Williams
Garapan, Saipan
