(World Affairs Journal) Michael J. Totten - From 1962 to 2011, the U.S. Army stored nearly four thousand tons of VX, Sarin, and mustard gas at the Umatilla Chemical Depot east of Portland, Oregon. In 1993 the U.S. signed a treaty forbidding the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons, and in 2004 began destroying Oregon's stockpile. They did it by incinerating the chemical agents in a 2,700-degree furnace. It took them eight years. A plan is now being put together to rid Syria of its chemical weapons. I can only imagine how much more difficult the job will be in a Middle Eastern country that's ripping its own guts out while al-Qaeda and Hizbullah are loose and running wild. Color me more than a little bit skeptical.
2013-09-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive