Biological and Chemical Weapons

BioWatch faces congressional hearing this week

2013-06-16 18:53:00

WASHINGTON — A decade ago, then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge oversaw the start of BioWatch, the nationwide system designed to detect airborne releases of anthrax or other biological weapons. In his 2003 State of the Union address,...

Letters: Sarin gas and Syria

2013-06-16 00:00:00

Re "U.S. verifies Syria's use of sarin," June 14 Red line? Are you kidding? Why is it less moral for Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces to kill rebels and civilians by asphyxiating them using sarin gas than it is for them to blow off limbs or...

White House confirms use of chemical weapons in Syria

2013-06-13 15:02:00

The government in Syria has used chemical weapons in that country’s civil war, killing at least 100 to 150 civilians, the White House said Thursday in an announcement that left unclear what the U.S. response would be. Small-scale attacks using...

Getting U.S. weapons to Syria rebels will take weeks

2013-06-14 18:04:00

WASHINGTON — Delivering weapons and ammunition to beleaguered Syrian rebels will take weeks, White House officials acknowledged Friday as the administration's decision to supply arms set off a debate about how far, and how fast, President Obama's...

Syria calls U.S. charge of chemical weapons use 'lies'

2013-06-14 11:05:00

The Syrian government Friday called White House allegations that it has used chemical weapons in the country’s civil war “full of lies,” according to state media reports. Syria’s Foreign Ministry instead blamed such attacks on...

Russia not convinced by U.S. claims of Syrian chemical weapons use

2013-06-14 09:56:00

MOSCOW – Russia on Friday said it was not persuaded by U.S. assertions that Syria has used chemical weapons in the country’s civil war and called the decision to send arms to some rebel groups unhelpful. Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Russian...

U.S. says Syria used chemical weapons, will send arms to rebels

2013-06-13 18:20:00

WASHINGTON — The White House declared Thursday that Syria had crossed a "red line" by using chemical weapons in that country's civil war, and in response, U.S. officials said, President Obama had authorized sending arms to some rebel groups. The...

Britain welcomes finding on Syrian use of chemical weapons

2013-06-14 10:08:00

LONDON – Britain on Friday welcomed the U.S. statement that Syrian President Bashar Assad had deployed chemical weapons against the rebels battling his regime, a conclusion that prompted a pledge from President Obama to send arms to the opposition...

Poll: Assad crossed the 'red line,' what should we do?

2013-06-14 04:30:00

A top national security official revealed Thursday afternoon that U.S. intelligence services has made a "high-confidence assessment" that Syrian government forces -- and only those forces -- have used chemical weapons. According to Ben Rhodes, a deputy...

Syria activists look to a grave for evidence against Assad

2013-05-25 17:08:00

WASHINGTON — The hunt for proof that Syrian government forces used banned chemical weapons may come down to a rotting corpse exhumed late last month from a makeshift cemetery near Damascus. The grave diggers — a Syrian doctor and several...

Bioterrorism consultant's anthrax claims challenged

2013-05-22 15:07:00

WASHINGTON — As an example of the ease with which terrorists could produce anthrax, former Navy Secretary Richard J. Danzig has repeatedly cited the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo. The cult gained infamy in 1995 by unleashing the nerve agent sarin in...

Spotlighting a terrorism risk, and profiting

2013-05-19 00:00:00

WASHINGTON — Over the last decade, former Navy Secretary Richard J. Danzig, a prominent lawyer, presidential advisor and biowarfare consultant to the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, has urged the government to counter what he...

James G. Loss Age: 34 Hometown: Longwood Branch of service: Army Military job: Chemical weapons with the 110th Mountain Division Relatives: Parents, Jerry and Joanne Loss, of Longwood; brothers, Michael Loss, Gary Loss, both of Altamonte Springs, John Loss, of Middlesex, N.J.

2003-09-10 20:30:39

Chemical weapons experts examine a former base of Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, nicknamed "Chemical Ali," near the city of Basra.

2003-04-09 00:00:00

Third Military Police Co SGM John Guertin, 45, from Fitchburg, Mass., offers a can of ham to a puppy he calls "Baby." The dog was rescued from a suspected chemical weapons facility about five days ago.

2003-04-02 00:00:00