Case Narrative

Chemical Warfare Agent Release at Muhammadiyat

Ammunition Storage Site

Case Narratives are reports of what we know today about certain events of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. This particular case narrative focuses on events surrounding a probable chemical warfare agent release from Coalition bombings on the Muhammadiyat Ammunition Storage Site. This is an interim, not a final, report. We hope you will read this and contact us with any information that would help us better understand the events reported here. With your help, we will be able to report more accurately on the events surrounding the incident reported in this narrative. Please contact my office to report any new information by calling::

1-800-497-6261

Dale A. Vesser
Acting Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses,
Medical Readiness, and Military Deployments
Department of Defense

2000318-0000008 Ver. 1.0

Last Update: March 22, 2001

Many veterans of the Gulf War have expressed concern their unexplained illnesses may result from their experiences in that war. In response to veterans’ concerns, the Department of Defense established a task force in June 1995 to investigate incidents and circumstances relating to possible causes. The Office of the Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses assumed responsibility for these investigations on November 12, 1996, and continued to investigate reports of chemical warfare agent incidents. Effective July 26, 2000, this office became the Office of the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses, Medical Readiness, and Military Deployments, with continued responsibility for Gulf War issues.

To inform the public about the progress of its Gulf-War-related efforts, the Department of Defense publishes on the Internet and elsewhere accounts that may contribute to the discussion of possible causes of illnesses of Gulf War veterans, along with documentary evidence or personal testimony used in compiling the accounts. This narrative is such an account.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. METHODOLOGY
 
II. SUMMARY
 
III. NARRATIVE
A. Background
1. Pre-Campaign Considerations
2. Description of the Muhammadiyat Site
B. Air Campaign Against Muhammadiyat
C. Bomb Damage Assessment
D. Chemical Weapons Found at Muhammadiyat After the War
E. Iraq’s Chemical Weapons Declarations
F. Current Estimate of Weapons Damaged or Destroyed at Muhammadiyat
1. DB-2 Bombs
2. Mustard-filled 250-gauge Bombs
3. Mustard-filled 500-gauge Bombs
4. Mustard-filled 155mm Artillery Rounds
5. Other Munitions
G. Bombing Dates
H. Agent Purity
I. Percent Agent Released from Damaged or Destroyed Munitions
J. Total Agent Release
K. Source Characterization
L. Modeling the Muhammadiyat Agent Release
1. Research
2. Modeling
M. Exposure Levels
N. Modeling Results
IV. ASSESSMENT
 
V. LESSONS LEARNED
A. Attack Planning and Assessment
B. Preserving Selected Data Supporting Combat Operations
C. Identifying Chemical Warfare Storage Sites
D. Toxicity Data
E. New Data Needed for Catastrophic Agent Releases
F. Air Strike Record-Keeping
G. Detecting Low Concentration Levels of Chemical Warfare Agents
H. Militarily Significant Dosages of Chemical Warfare Agents
TAB A - Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Glossary
 
TAB B - Units Involved
 
TAB C - Bibliography
 
TAB D - Methodology for Chemical Warfare Incident Investigation
 
TAB E - Coalition Air Attacks Against Muhammadiyat
 
TAB F - Methodology for Modeling a Possible Chemical Warfare Agent Release
 
TAB G - Determining and Modeling Nerve and Mustard Agents’ General Population Limit and First Noticeable Effects Levels
 
TAB H - Muhammadiyat Nerve Agent Modeling Results
 
TAB I - Muhammadiyat Mustard Agent Modeling Results
 
END NOTES


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