Chlorine Attack Number 11

The Washington Post noted in yesterday's paper that Iraqi insurgents tried to use a chlorine VBIED against a U.S. military site. By my count, this is the eleventh successfully discharged chlorine incident (two VBIEDs didn't go off). This is a change from their previous focus on Iraqi civilians.

A car bomb attack outside a major U.S. military base in Iraq discharged a gaseous cloud that sickened dozens of people Sunday, punctuating a flurry of violence that left 14 American soldiers dead over the past three days.

The bomb exploded near the main gate of Forward Operating Base Warhorse, the largest U.S. military facility in Diyala province, a restive territory north of Baghdad. An Iraqi employee on the base said the bomb unleashed chlorine gas. The U.S. military cited an "unconfirmed report of off-color smoke" that caused soldiers to complain of "minor respiratory irritations and watery eyes," according to a statement. Soldiers were rushed to the clinic on base for treatment, but there were no deaths.

"Something made them feel ill," said Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. "What it is specifically, we haven't figured that out yet."

Zero deaths from chlorine incidents. Watery eyes from a "chemical" attack. Now I've been criticized for minimizing the effects of these chlorine attacks - there are those in the CB defense community who would like to capitalize on these events and equate them as major events. They pale, however, compared to these conventional Iraqi insurgent attacks.