Kay Report Fall-Out : More WMD Follies

[MrPrax]

Revelation casts doubt on Iraq find
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1057558,00.html

Julian Borger in Washington
Tuesday October 7, 2003
The Guardian

The test tube of botulinum presented by Washington and London as evidence that Saddam Hussein had been developing and concealing weapons of mass destruction, was found in an Iraqi scientist's home refrigerator, where it had been sitting for 10 years, it emerged yesterday.

David Kay, the expert appointed by the CIA to lead the hunt for weapons, told a congressional committee last week that the vial of botulinum had been "hidden" at the scientist's home, and could be used to "covertly surge production of deadly weapons".

going....

It was cited in justifications of the invasion by President George Bush and by Britain's foreign secretary, Jack Straw, who described botulinum toxin as "15,000 times more toxic than the nerve agent VX".

going...

The US state department even argued that the discovery of the test tube meant that Mr Kay's Iraq Survey Group (ISG), contrary to its own claim, had found a weapon of mass destruction. However, newly disclosed details about the circumstances in which the botulinum vial was found, have raised fresh questions about its significance.

GONE
It is also unclear whether the vial contained the bacteria botulinum, from which the toxin is drawn, or the toxin itself, as Mr Kay claimed in interviews over the weekend.

Furthermore, the most lethal form of the germ is the A strain, while the form found by the ISG was the B strain.

UMMMM...
Botulinum toxin injection is used to treat dystonia�a neuromuscular disorder that produces involuntary muscle contractions, or spasm�that affects muscles that control movement in the eyes, neck, face, voice box, or the smooth muscle in the bladder. The goal of the therapy is to reduce muscle spasm and pain.

This potent neurotoxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that causes food poisoning (botulism). There are seven known types of C. botulinum toxin, but only types A (Botox�) and B (Myobloc�) are used as medical treatments.
neurologychannel et al
http://www.neurologychannel.com/botulinum/index.shtml

SO...the Iraqis were threatening us with BOTOX!!!!!

Maybe it was to change Saddam's appearance?

[spindoctor]

1. Not really surprised

Its castor beans all over again.

Kay said in an interview yesterday that no _actual_ WMDs were found, which caused John Stewart to wonder if he had found any imaginary WMDs.

[HFishbine]

2. I thought this was a vile war

Now I see it's a vial war.

[dbt]

3. Tweet! FOUL! Twenty yard penalty, loss of down!

But funnier than diarrhea in a wetsuit!

:evilgrin:
dbt