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File: 120596_aaday_04.txtless persistent than Mustard. In order to gain killing concentrations of these agents, pre-dawn attacks are best, conducted in areas where the morning breezes are likely to blow away from friendly positions. Technically we know that Dusty Mustard has enhanced capabilities in hot desert climates. It is more persistent because it becomes embedded in the carrier. We should assume its persistence is even greater in other dry areas including the mountainous regions of Iraq, but that its effectiveness drops off sharply in the marshes. (U) Chemical weapons have a low kill ratio. Just as in WWI, during which the ratio of deaths to injured was 2-3 percent, that figure appears to be borne out again in this war. Reliable data on casualties is very difficult to obtain, but the death rate from chemical munitions seems to have been about 2-3 percent. (U) We deem it remarkable that the death rate should hold at such a low level even with the introduction of nerve agents. If those rates are correct, as they well may be, this further reinforces the position that we must not think of chemical weapons as "a poor man's nuclear weapon." While such weapons have great psychological potential, they are not potential killers or destroyers on a scale with nuclear or biological weapons. For comparison, during WWI, the U.S. Army suffered some 70,552 gas casualties requiring hospitalization. Of these, 1,221 died. Deaths on the battlefield attributed to gas are recorded as 200, but on WWI battlefields, cause of death was often difficult to ascertain. The point is that 27.3 percent of all American casualties were gas generated and 31.4 percent of wounded were gas related. [(b)(1)sec3.4 (b)(1)] Fuel Air Explosives. Although not tecnnically chemical weapons, Fuel Air Explosives (FAE) are weapons of unusual effectiveness, but are largely unknown in the U.S. Army. These weapons, usually air delivered but capable of delivery by MRL systems, create a cloud which, when ignited, explodes with
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