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File: 120596_aaday_04.txt
less 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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