A Residue of Uncertainty

The United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) has released a historical summary on Iraq's chemical weapons program that documents its start in 1971 and follows the work conducted through the 1980s and 1990s. It unfortunately does not cover much at all in the 2002-2005 timeframe - perhaps because UNMOVIC wasn't invited back into the country after the U.S. military entered. It's an interesting read - half the report is on other UNMOVIC topics, but starting on page 7 is the Iraq history. It's got some nice bar charts and narratives; I noted these passages in particular.

Sustainable means of delivery and munitions capable of fulfilling operational goals was the prime determining factor in the selection of munitions for the Iraqi chemical weapon programme. The efficiency of dissemination of chemical warfare agents for munitions was considered by Iraq in relation to operational goals. However, the optimal efficiency of munitions was not in itself the prime criterion or the selection of munitions for use with a chemical warfare agent.

In the methods and “rules” of chemical weapon use, Iraq followed known principles. Battle scenarios prepared by the Iraqi armed forces envisaged both defensive and offensive operations and therefore comprised requirements for different types of chemical munitions to assure operational flexibility. Thus, in general, artillery projectiles and aerial bombs filled with the persistent chemical warfare agent mustard gas were to be used for area denial, to prevent the movement of attacking enemy troops in the course of defensive operations. Chemical 122-mm rockets filled with the non-persistent chemical warfare agent sarin were to be deployed against enemy positions on the front line, and used to break the enemy defences in preparation for offensive operations and counter-attacks. After chemical attacks, areas fired upon with chemical rockets containing non-persistent agent could be crossed by attacking Iraqi troops. Aerial bombs with both persistent and non-persistent agents could be used against multiple targets beyond the front line. Chemical warheads for ballistic missiles developed at the very end of the programme were considered to be strategic weapons.

Iraq did not have special military units dedicated for the use of chemical weapons. Regular military combat units were to receive and use chemical weapons if necessary, under special directives. It is probable that such directives were issued during the Iran-Iraq war under the name of the President of Iraq.
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Iraqi regular military units in theatres of operation received and used both conventional and chemical weapons. Because of the rapid relocation of many of those units and the dozens of facilities involved in the handling of the weapons, there is a possibility that chemical munitions have been inadvertently mixed with conventional weapons. Moreover, some chemical munitions filled with chemical warfare agents were marked as standard conventional weapons, which made their identification as chemical munitions problematic, not only for United Nations inspectors and later personnel of the Iraq Survey Group, but also for Iraq.

From information collected by the inspectors in Iraq, UNMOVIC assessed that, depending on the munitions models, types of chemical warfare agents, dates of production and filling and storage conditions, some chemical munitions, if remaining in Iraq, may still retain relatively high-purity chemical warfare agent, like mustard gas. Other munitions would contain degraded chemical warfare agents, binary components or only their residues.

As I said, interesting stuff. At the least, one can recognize the tactical use of chemical weapons as not dissimilar to other conventional weapons use - that is to say, these were not "mass casualty" weapons as much as special weapons used to magnify the impact of combined arms tactics. And yes, there still could be some stray rounds floating around the theater. But a few old chemical rounds - especially if they hold degraded nerve agent - aren't a threat. UNMOVIC had a good inspection and verification program going - it's a shame that the U.S. government didn't want to use them over the past few years.