Known and Unknown Nasty Mega Death

I don’t know the right answer on what to do with Syria –there probably isn’t one.

I do know some things based on the research I have done in chemical warfare in my role as historical author.

I know that the US Army Chemical Corps has intelligence capabilities that you would find hard to believe – I did when I learned about them. If they say Assad used chemicals in Syria, he did. In 2003 they did not say Iraq had chemical weapons, but our leaders of the time weren’t interested in facts. I don’t know if what Obama is telling us is what the Chemical corps is telling him, but I am positive that whatever they are telling him is correct.

I know that chemical weapons, and even more biological, make it easy for somebody to create an even that would make 9/11, by comparison look like a bad multi-car freeway accident.

I know that chemical weapons are disturbingly easy to obtain and use, and are an overwhelming temptation to people who want to hurt us. I know it is critical to our best interest to have them view that step as the third rail of terrorism. I want Abdul el Bozo and his buddies to think about chemical options and decide “Let’s do something else instead – chemicals are about the only thing the Americans are serious about.”

I know the only way to make el Bozo think that way is for him to observe that anybody who sues chemicals gets slapped so hard that they wish they too had done something else instead. I know that having UN resolutions, congressional action, and Presidential red lines be violated without somebody incurring a lot of serious, violent pain will encourage and not discourage el Bozo. 

I know it is not morals, it is not politics, it is not outrage, it is straightforward self-defense to extract a very agonizing price from Assad or whoever else uses chemical weapons. Anybody, anywhere. That is the only chance we have of discouraging their use in our subways, malls, schools, malls and sports events.

I read a long article yesterday about how everyone in Congress is figuring out how to vote based on their constituents opinions – which of course are totally uninformed except for what the media and politicians tell them. Which means all those Congressman view their own re-election as more important than preventing chemical attack on those same constituents. Sad to say, this is shameful but not surprising.

Imagine yourself at Tiger Stadium watching the Ole War Skule whip up on whatever hapless opponent is on the field. Suddenly there is a series of five explosions at about twenty yard intervals down the middle of the fields. You don’t know it, but these are mortar shells fired from the river batture, a mile away over the levee, by el Bozo. He has already jumped on a fast bass boat and is half a mile down river getting safe at 40 miles an hour.

You also don’t know that the vapor cloud spouting up from each explosion is an aerosol mist of SARIN nerve gas. Probably bought pretty cheap as surplus from Syria or Iran.
If the wind is blowing away from you, then after about thirty seconds you notice that pretty much every body on the far side of the stadium seems to be doing some weird dance, a cross between the Zombie and the Robot. If you have binoculars you can see a lot of them are puking and drooling and have dark stains on the front and back of their pants. You won’t notice when they start to fall over and writhe on the bleachers, because by that time everybody up wind will be running for the exits, stomping and grinding each other in the process, and  you’ll have to watch your step to avoid falling in the slippery red mess. Unless of course you are part of it.

If the wind is blowing in your direction, you will feel a mist, kind of like a cloud of hair spray except there is no odor and it feels thick, like tiny motor oil drops. Within a minute you will be doing the Robot/Zombie dance while you drool, puke, poop and pee all over yourself. Good news: this won’t be embarrassing because by this time you won’t really be aware of what’s going on. You won’t even notice when the fat guy behind you falls over, and knocks you down between the bleachers breaking both your legs. 

You will probably lie there in the autumn heat, rotting steadily for several days. SARIN is a persistent agent, meaning it remains a threat to anyone without protective gear, and it takes that long to equip “rescue” workers with full-enclosure suits from other states and military supply centers. A few will be able to come in early to look for survivors; it won’t take many for that purpose.  Probably, Chemical Corps units equipped for heavy decontamination will come in and hose down the entire stadium, bodies and all, and maybe the surrounding parking lot and vehicles. But the odds are pretty low that you will be bothered by any of this.

Think about this scenario before you make up your mind about proposed action in Syria based on what you near from reporters and from Congressmen who want more than anything else for you vote for them. If they’re lucky, el Bozo won’t get his mortar to the batture before you can do that in the next election.