Chlorine bombs

As many have noticed, the Iraqi insurgents are beginning to use chlorine bombs more and more. Thus far, they haven't achieved the lethality of many of the car bombs in public markets. Yesterday's attacks, for instance, killed eight people, less than three per bomb, which is well below the tens and sometimes hundreds killed by the more successful car bombs. They did injur about 350 people, but I suspect most of those injuries were minor and short-lived.

Still, this is the early going for this new type of attack. If anything, the insurgents have proved that they are adaptable and can get up the learning curve very quickly. Maybe the bombs have been set off in the wrong places. Or maybe, chlorine is the wrong agent. But, my guess is these kinds of chemical attacks will become more and more lethal and more and more prevalent.

As T.A. Frank at the Washington Monthly points out, it also highlites the exposure of our own chemical facilities here at home.