From: jaskew@spam.ua.oz (Joseph Askew)
Newsgroups: sci.energy
Subject: Re: Greenpeace: Anti-US feelings
Summary: Wow Whole villages!
Date: 23 Nov 92 03:35:51 GMT
Followup-To: sci.energy
Organization: Statistics, Pure & Applied Mathematics, University of Adelaide

In article <1992Nov21.083508.12081@netcom.com> mvp@netcom.com (Mike Van Pelt) writes:

>In article <1652@airgun.wg.waii.com> brett@bambi.wg.waii.com (Marc Brett) writes:

>>In article <1992Nov17.161857.24416@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> dyrda@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Richard Dyrda) writes:

>>> Yellow Rain usage in Afghanistan and SE Asia.

>>The "Yellow Rain" is nothing more than bee feces.  Scientific American ran
>>a good article debunking this particular myth.

>I read the Scientific American article.  It failed to fully explain
>how bee feces could cause whole villiages full of people to die in
>convulsions, hemorraging from every bodily orifice.

I would really like to know what Chemical agent causes people to die both
with convulsions *and* bleeding out of every orifice! Still this must be
the silliest thread in a group with some pretty silly posters. I am not
an expert on Chemical weaponry but I do know that Chemicals were used by
the Russians in Afghanistan. The question with Yellow Rain is Laos and
there have been NO gas attack victims found in camps along the Thai border.
It was in Laos that the Yellow Rain story started and the bee spit theory
was work out. There have been a few people who *claimed* to have suffered
gas attack but on exaimination it turned out to be jungle rashes of various
sorts. In short Yellow Rain turns out to have probably been an urban myth
brought to you by the same people who fake photos of MIA's. There must be
some references out there for us to consult so perhaps someone might post
a reputable one and instead of mindless abuse we might resolve an argument.
For the record, since Chemicals were first used in WW1 to the best of my
knowledge they have been used in the following Wars by the following
countries

WW1 - Germany, France, Britain, US
Russian - Britain, possibly US
Iraq - Britian
Ethiopia - Italy
Yemen - Egypt (United Arab Republic)
Vietnam - US
Iran - Iraq
Iraq - Iraq
Afghanistan - USSR

If anyone has any more I'ld like to hear from them.

>Too bad for that little bit of Politically Correct Science that Boris
>Yeltsin recently released documentation of Soviet chemical weapons used
>in Afghanistan, as someone else in this thread has already point out.
>Though I suppose you won't believe Yeltsin, either.

If you are referring to me then I have never denied that the Russians used
CW in Afghanistan - Yellow Rain was a story that started in Laos. No evidence
from there that I have heard of yet.

Personally I wouldn't believe Yeltsin - a lifelong Communist Apparatchik?!!!
I suspect you wouldn't believe him either except that he happens to agree
with you. (yes that was a flame, but not at you personally. It is amazing
how quick people forget other people's past history because they spout off
about Mom and Applepie (or in this case Democracy and Freedom). When I see
real elections in Russia and Yeltsin retire gracefully I will believe he
isn't just as much of an oppurtunists as Gorbachev was. Personally I would
rather trust Charles Manson)


Joseph Askew


-- 
Joseph Askew, Gauche and Proud  At dawn with staff in hand I climbed the crags,
jaskew@spam.maths.adelaide.edu  At dusk I made my camp amoung the mountains.
Disclaimer? Sue, see if I care  Only a few peaks rise as high as this house,
One China One Korea One Eire32  Facing the crags, it overlooks winding streams.
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