A balanced piece on Chemical Warfare/Truth

[thedrifter]

I'd feel better not having to read about this at all, but it is
> interesting and a helpful antidote to the CNN's, etc. of the world
for
> whom the message has to sizzle or they lose eyeballs...
>
> Since the media has decided to scare everyone with predictions of
> chemical, biological, or nuclear warfare on our turf I decided to
> write a paper and keep things in their proper perspective. I am a
> retired military weapons, munitions, and training expert.
>
> Lesson number one: In the mid 1990's there were a series of nerve gas
> attacks on crowded Japanese subway stations. Given perfect conditions
> for an attack less than 10% of the people there were injured (the
> injured were better in a few hours) and only one percent of the
> injured died. 60 Minutes once had a fellow telling us that one drop
of
> nerve gas could kill a thousand people, well he didn't tell you the
> thousand dead people per drop was theoretical. Drill Sergeants
> exaggerate how terrible this stuff was to keep the recruits awake in
> class (I know this because I was a Drill Sergeant too). Forget
> everything you've ever seen on TV, in the movies, or read in a novel
> about this stuff, it was all a lie (read this sentence again out
> loud!)! These weapons are about terror, if you remain calm, you will
> probably not die. This is far less scary than the media and their
> "Experts," make it sound.
>
> Chemical weapons are categorized as Nerve, Blood, Blister, and
> Incapacitating agents. Contrary to the hype of reporters and
> politicians they are not weapons of mass destruction. Instead, they
> are "Area denial", and terror weapons that don't destroy anything.
> When you leave the area you almost always leave the risk. That's the
> difference; you can leave the area and the risk; soldiers may have to
> stay put and sit through it and that's why they need all that spiffy
> gear.
>
> These are not gasses, they are vapors and/or air borne particles. The
> agent must be delivered in sufficient quantity to kill/injure, and
> that defines when/how it's used. Every day we have a morning and
> evening inversion where "stuff," suspended in the air gets pushed
> down. This inversion is why allergies (pollen) and air pollution are
> worst at these times of the day. So, a chemical attack will have it's
> best effect an hour of so either side of sunrise/sunset. Also, being
> vapors and airborne particles they are heavier than air so they will
> seek low places like ditches, basements and underground garages. This
> stuff won't work when it's freezing, it doesn't last when it's hot,
> and wind spreads it too thin - too fast. They've got to get this
stuff
> on you, or, get you to inhale it for it to work. They also have to
get
> the concentration of chemicals high enough to kill or wound you. Too
> little and it's nothing, too much and it's wasted.
>
> What I hope you've gathered by this point is that a chemical weapons
> attack that kills a lot of people is incredibly hard to do with
> military grade agents and equipment so you can imagine how hard it
> will be for terrorists. The more you know about this stuff the more
> you realize how hard it is to use.
>
> We'll start by talking about nerve agents. You have these in your
> house, plain old bug killer (like Raid) is a nerve agent. All nerve
> agents work the same way; they are cholinesterase inhibitors that
mess
> up the signals your nervous system uses to make your body function.
It
> can harm you if you get it on your skin but it works best if they can
> get you to inhale it. If you don't die in the first minute and you
can
> leave the area you're probably gonna live. The military's antidote
for
> all nerve agents is atropine and pralidoxime chloride. Neither one of
> these does anything to cure the nerve agent, they send your body into
> overdrive to keep you alive for five minutes, after that the agent is
> used up. Your best protection is fresh air and staying calm. Listed
> below are the symptoms for nerve agent poisoning.
>
> Sudden headache, Dimness of vision (someone you're looking at will
> have pinpointed pupils), Runny nose, Excessive saliva or drooling,
> Difficulty breathing, Tightness in chest, Nausea, Stomach cramps,
> Twitching of exposed skin where a liquid just got on you.
>
> If you are in public and you start experiencing these symptoms, first
> ask yourself, did anything out of the ordinary just happen, a loud
> pop, did someone spray something on the crowd? Are other people
> getting sick too?
>
> Is there an odor of new mown hay, green corn, something fruity, or
> camphor where it shouldn't be?
>
> If the answer is yes, then calmly (if you panic you breathe faster
and
> inhale more air/poison) leave the area and head up wind, or, outside.
>
> Fresh air is the best "right now antidote". If you have a blob of
> liquid that looks like molasses or Kayro syrup on you; blot it or
> scrape it off and away from yourself with anything disposable. This
> stuff works based on your body weight, what a crop duster uses to
kill
> bugs won't hurt you unless you stand there and breathe it in real
> deep, then lick the residue off the ground for while. Remember they
> have to do all the work, they have to get the concentration up and
> keep it up for several minutes while all you have to do is quit
> getting it on you/quit breathing it by putting space between you and
> the attack.
>
> Blood agents are cyanide or arsine which effect your blood's ability
> to provide oxygen to your tissue. The scenario for attack would be
the
> same as nerve agent. Look for a pop or someone splashing/spraying
> something and folks around there getting woozy/falling down. The
> telltale smells are bitter almonds or garlic where it shouldn't be.
> The symptoms are blue lips, blue under the fingernails rapid
> breathing. The military's antidote is amyl nitride and just like
nerve
> agent antidote it just keeps your body working for five minutes till
> the toxins are used up. Fresh air is the your best individual chance.
>
> Blister agents (distilled mustard) are so nasty that nobody wants to
> even handle it let alone use it. It's almost impossible to handle
> safely and may have delayed effect of up to 12 hours. The attack
> scenario is also limited to the things you'd see from other
chemicals.
> If you do get large, painful blisters for no apparent reason, don't
> pop them, if you must, don't let the liquid from the blister get on
> any other area, the stuff just keeps on spreading. It's just as
likely
> to harm the user as the target. Soap, water, sunshine, and fresh air
> are this stuff's enemy.
Bottom line on chemical weapons (it's the same if they use industrial
> chemical spills); they are intended to make you panic, to terrorize
> you, to herd you like sheep to the wolves. If there is an attack,
> leave the area and go upwind, or to the sides of the wind stream.
They
> have to get the stuff to you, and on you. You're more likely to be
> hurt by a drunk driver on any given day than be hurt by one of these
> attacks. Your odds get better if you leave the area. Soap, water,
> time, and fresh air really deal this stuff a knock-out-punch. Don't
> let fear of an isolated attack rule your life. The odds are really on
> your side.
>
> Nuclear bombs. These are the only weapons of mass destruction on
> earth. The effects of a nuclear bomb are heat, blast, EMP, and
> radiation. If you see a bright flash of light like the sun, where the
> sun isn't, fall to the ground! The heat will be over a second. Then
> there will be two blast waves, one out going, and one on it's way
> back. Don't stand up to see what happened after the first wave;
> anything that's going to happen will have happened in two full
> minutes.
>
> These will be low yield devices and will not level whole cities. If
> you live through the heat, blast, and initial burst of radiation,
> you'll probably live for a very very long time. Radiation will not
> create fifty foot tall women, or giant ants and grass hoppers the
size
> of tanks. These will be at the most 1 kiloton bombs; that's the
> equivalent of 1,000 tons of TNT.

continued.......

[thedrifter]

Here's the real deal, flying debris and radiation will kill a lot of
> exposed (not all!) people within a half mile of the blast. Under
> perfect conditions this is about a half mile circle of death and
> destruction, but, when it's done it's done. EMP stands for Electro
> Magnetic Pulse and it will fry every electronic device for a good
> distance, it's impossible to say what and how far but probably not
> over a couple of miles from ground zero is a good guess. Cars, cell
> phones, computers, ATMs, you name it, all will be out of order.
>
> There are lots of kinds of radiation, you only need to worry about
> three, the others you have lived with for years. You need to worry
> about "Ionizing radiation", these are little sub atomic particles
that
> go whizzing along at the speed of light. They hit individual cells in
> your body, kill the nucleus and keep on going. That's how you get
> radiation poisoning, you have so many dead cells in your body that
the
> decaying cells poison you. It's the same as people getting radiation
> treatments for cancer, only a bigger area gets radiated. The good
news
> is you don't have to just sit there and take it, and there's lots you
> can do rather than panic. First; your skin will stop alpha particles,
> a page of a news paper or your clothing will stop beta particles, you
> just gotta try and avoid inhaling dust that's contaminated with atoms
> that are emitting these things and you'll be generally safe from
them.
>
> Gamma rays are particles that travel like rays (quantum physics makes
> my brain hurt) and they create the same damage as alpha and beta
> particles only they keep going and kill lots of cells as they go all
> the way through your body. It takes a lot to stop these things, lots
> of dense material, on the other hand it takes a lot of this to kill
> you.
>
> Your defense is as always to not panic. Basic hygiene and normal
> preparation are your friends. All canned or frozen food is safe to
> eat. The radiation poisoning will not effect plants so fruits and
> vegetables are OK if there's no dust on em (rinse em off if there
is).
> If you don't have running water and you need to collect rain water or
> use water from wherever, just let it sit for thirty minutes and skim
> off the water gently from the top. The dust with the bad stuff in it
> will settle and the remaining water can be used for the toilet which
> will still work if you have a bucket of water to pour in the tank.
>
> Finally there's biological warfare. There's not much to cover here.
> Basic personal hygiene and sanitation will take you further than a
> million doctors. Wash your hands often, don't share drinks, food,
> sloppy kisses, etc., ... with strangers. Keep your garbage can with a
> tight lid on it, don't have standing water (like old buckets,
ditches,
> or kiddie pools) laying around to allow mosquitoes breeding room.
This
> stuff is carried by vectors, that is bugs, rodents, and contaminated
> material. If biological warfare is so easy as the TV makes it sound,
> why has Saddam Hussein spent twenty years, millions, and millions of
> dollars trying to get it right? If you're clean of person and home
you
> eat well and are active you're gonna live.
>
> Overall preparation for any terrorist attack is the same as you'd
take
> for a big storm. If you want a gas mask, fine, go get one. I know
this
> stuff and I'm not getting one and I told my Mom not to bother with
one
> either (how's that for confidence). We have a week's worth of cash,
> several days worth of canned goods and plenty of soap and water. We
> don't leave stuff out to attract bugs or rodents so we don't have
> them. These people can't conceive a nation this big with this much
> resources. These weapons are made to cause panic, terror, and to
> demoralize. If we don't run around like sheep they won't use this
> stuff after they find out it's no fun. The government is going nuts
> over this stuff because they have to protect every inch of America.
> You've only gotta protect yourself, and by doing that, you help the
> country.
>
> Finally, there are millions of caveats to everything I wrote here and
> you can think up specific scenarios where my advice isn't the best.
> This letter is supposed to help the greatest number of people under
> the greatest number of situations. If you don't like my work, don't
> nit pick, just sit down and explain chemical, nuclear, and biological
> warfare in a document around three pages long yourself. This is how
we
> the people of the United States can rob these people of their most
> desired goal, your terror.
>
> SFC Red Thomas (Ret)
> Armor Master Gunner
> Mesa, AZ
> Unlimited reproduction and distribution is authorized.
> Just give me credit for my work, and, keep in context.


Sempers,

Roger