[b.2.]











[b.2.]













SUBJECT:  CRISIS ORDER OF BATTLE AS OF 290000Z AUGUST 1990

 



/*********** THIS IS A COMBINED MESSAGE ************/













[b.1. sec. 1.5.(c)]









5.  (U) CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WARFARE:

A.            AGENTS.  THE IRAQIS POSSESS FOUR CONFIRMED CW AGENTS

AND ARE KNOWN TO WE DEVELOPING THREE OTHERS.  ALL THE CONFIRMED

AGENTS WERE USED DURING THE IRAN/IRAQ WAR AND INCLUDE THE NERVE

AGENTS, TABUN, SARIN AND GF, AND THE BLISTER AGENT MUSTARD IN

LIQUID

FORM AND IMPREGNATED ON DUST.  OTHER CW AGENTS IN DEVELOPMENT

INCLUDE THE PERSISTENT NERVE AGENT VX, THE SEMIPERSISTENT NERVE

AGENT SOMAN, AND THE HALLUCINOGEN BZ.  PRESENTLY, IRAQ IS ASSESSED

TO BE ON THE VERGE OF PRODUCING VX IF IT HAS NOT DONE SO ALREADY.

THE TECHNOLOGY IS AVAILABLE AND THE PRECURSOR CHEMICALS FOR VX

HAVE

BEEN IN PLACE TO PRODUCE HUNDREDS OF TONS SINCE 1988.

B.            CHEMICAL WEAPONS.  THE IRAQIS ARE CAPABLE OF

DELIVERING CW AGENTS BY MORTAR, A VARIETY OF TUBE ARTILLERY,

SURFACE-TO-SURFACE ROCKETS, AIR-TO-SURFACE ROCKETS, AND AERIAL

BOMBS.  IRAQ MAY HAVE BINARY WARHEADS FOR ARTILLERY SHELLS IN

ADDITION TO UNITARY VERSIONS.

C.            DIA BELIEVES IRAQ HAS CHEMICAL WARHEADS FOR ITS

SURFACE-TO-SURFACE FROG, SCUD AND/OR SCUD-TYPES VARIANTS MISSILES.

THE NUMBER OF WARHEADS IS UNKNOWN BUT BELIEVED TO BE LIMITED.  IF

THE CW WARHEADS ARE BINARY, THE ONLY KNOWN AGENTS SUITABLE

WOULD BE

SARIN AND GF.  IF UNITARY CW WARHEADS ARE AVAILABLE, PERSISTENT

AGENTS MUSTARD AND VX (IF AVAILABLE), OR SEMI-PERSISTENT AGENTS OF

AN TABUN, WOULD BE THE MOST LIKELY AGENTS.  [b.1. sec 1.5.(c)]



D.            IRAQ IS A KNOWN PRODUCER OF BW AGENTS ANTHRAX AND

BOTULINUM TOXIN.  BAGHDAD HAS THE TECHNOLOGICAL ABILITY TO

WEAPONIZE

THESE AGENTS AND MAY ALREADY HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF BW

MUNITIONS.

DIA BELIEVES IRAQ WILL HAVE DEPLOYED MUNITIONS FILLED WITH THESE BW

AGENTS BY THE END OF 1990.

E.            DIA BELIEVES THAT IRAQ MAY HAVE DEPLOYED CHEMICAL

MUNITIONS SOON AFTER THE INVASION OF KUWAIT AND MAY HAVE MOVED

CHEMICAL ARTILLERY AND AIR DELIVERABLE CHEMICAL MUNITIONS TO

BUNKERS

AT AIRBASES AND AT CORPS LEVEL LOGISTIC CENTERS.  THIS DEPLOYMENT

IS

NOT CONSIDERED AN INDICATION OF IMMINENT CHEMICAL USE, BUT RATHER

IRAQI PREPARATION FOR A VARIETY OF CONTINGENCIES.