Several hundred Iraqi police poisoned

[BoogyMan]

Link Here (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20061008/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_poisoning_1)

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Several hundred Iraqi police fell sick from poisoning during a meal breaking their daily Ramadan fast on Sunday, Iraqi officials said. The cause was under investigation.

Ambulances and helicopters sent by the U.S. military ferried the sickened policemen to hospital after they fell ill at their base near the southern town of Numaniyah, said an Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release details to the press.

Gen. Adnan Thabit, commander of the National Police, confirmed that the police — members of the National Police's 4th Division — had been struck by poisoning after the meal.

He would not say how many and said the incident was under investigation to determine the cause.

The Interior Ministry official said that up to 40 percent of the Division's 1,700 policemen may have been affected. He said authorities suspected they may have fallen sick from drinking water, raising the possibility that the poisoning was intentional.

A town council official in Numaniyah also put the number of victims at several hundred, saying they had been taken to three hospitals in the Shiite town, 60 miles south of Baghdad. The council official also spoke on condition of anonymity.

The 4th Division was in Numaniyah for a round of training along with members of the Iraqi military.

[Labrocca]

Poisoning the water supply is a HUGE danger imho to American cities.

[Nitrus]

Yeah, essentially if terrorists posioned the water supply they could millions.

I dont think this is intentional though.

[lily]

Update

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/10/09/iraq.main/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

Mess hall boss arrested for sickening Iraqi troops
POSTED: 7:10 p.m. EDT, October 9, 2006
Adjust font size:


KUT, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi authorities have arrested the man in charge of the
mess hall in Numaniya, where hundreds of Iraqi police fell ill after eating
their evening meal on Sunday, breaking their daily Ramadan fast.

Initial lab test results of the food and water suggest it was negligence by
the contractor, not an attack, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. General
Abdul Karim Khalaf said.

The contractor was arrested and the cooks are being interrogated, he said.

Despite earlier reports, Khalaf said there were no deaths, and that 450
police were sickened at the mess hall about 75 miles (120 km) south of
Baghdad.

[Churchel]

So KBR or Halliburton are to blame?

[lily]

So KBR or Halliburton are to blame?


I have to admit, that was the first thing that came to mind when Labrocca and Nitrus mentioned water, with the story of Halliburton and the water supply last year, So I did some more reading. You don't bleed from the ears and nose from regular ordinary food poisoning. Sounds like a new type of attack to me.

Link (http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15712808.htm)

Hundreds of Iraqi police poisoned
HERALD WIRE SERVICES
BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Iraqi policemen fell sick from poisoning Sunday at a
base in southern Iraq after the evening meal breaking their daily Ramadan
fast, and officials said they were investigating whether the poisoning was
intentional.

An official with the Environment Ministry said 11 policemen had died.
However, the governor of Wasit province - where the poisoning took place -
denied any deaths, though he said some of the victims were in critical
condition. There was no immediate explanation for the contradictory reports.

Some of the policemen began bleeding from the ears and nose after the meal,
said Jassim al-Atwan, an inspector for the Environment Ministry, who was
serving as a liaison in the investigation between the Health Ministry and
the base, located in the town of Numaniyah.

"Hundreds of soldiers were poisoned after taking food and water in the
iftar," Wasit Gov. Hamad al-Latif told the Associated Press, referring to
the meal that breaks the sunrise-to-sunset fast during the Islamic holy
month. "Investigations are under way to determine the cause."

Samples of the food and water were being tested "to determine the substance
in them" and will be sent to Baghdad for further tests, al-Latif said.

Sunni insurgents who have targeted police and military forces with bombings
and shootings have not been known to use poisoning as a weapon. But the
suddenness and severity of the sickness raised speculation that the incident
could be a new attack. The division is mainly made up of Shiites.

Between 600-700 policemen were affected to varying degrees, and 11 who had
the heaviest amount of the food had died, al-Atwan told The Associated
Press.

Some of the soldiers collapsed as soon as they stood up from them meal,
others fell "one after the other" as they headed out to the yard in the base
to line up in formation, al-Atwan said.



Link (http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15712808.htm)

Poisoned melons fell Iraqi troops

Associated Press in Mosul
Thursday June 2, 2005
The Guardian


Several Iraqi soldiers were treated in hospital in northern Iraq after
eating intentionally poisoned watermelons, the US military said yesterday.
Lieutenant Colonel Andre Hance did not say what the watermelons had been
poisoned with, how many soldiers had been poisoned or when it happened, but
he said the troops had since been released from hospital.

"There was a gentleman recently delivering free watermelons to some traffic
control points along the road. Soldiers became ill after eating them and
called ahead to detain the driver," Col Hance said.

The soldiers had been manning checkpoints between Sharqat, 160 miles
north-west of Baghdad, and Hammam al-Alil, 50 miles further north towards
Mosul.

"We don't know yet what the watermelons were injected with, but
investigations are ongoing now to try and determine what poison was used,"
the officer said.

It was not immediately clear if the detained man was aware that the
watermelons had been poisoned, or if he was part of a cell. Police forces
have been routinely targeted by militants who regard them as collaborating
with the US-led occupation.

[Churchel]

you see thats what gets me. I am currently torn between exaggerations from the "telephone game" and casual coverup. Lets see if a couple more iraqi police die in road side bombings over the next week.