Chlorine Gas Attacks

A new tactic in Iraq is to couple a bomb with chlorine in order to make chlorine gas and increase the mayhem wrought by the attack. Chlorine gas was used in WWI and could have devastating results.

So, I am examining photos of US soldiers in Iraq looking to see if they have started to wear gas masks. Once the Army discovered that there were no chemical weapons in Iraq, the soldiers stopped wearing the masks, for good reason. They are a huge PITA.


They are heavy, bulky, flop around when you wear them, get hung up as you try to exit a HMMWV, and just generally suck to have to deal with. If the new chlorine tactic brings back the gas mask as daily wear, the insurgents will have successfully degraded the soldiers' effectiveness, if only just a bit. And the soldiers' job will be that much more difficult.

The picture is of me wearing a newish version of the mask.