This investigation has been unable to obtain definitive evidence to confirm or refute that Iraq used blister or any other kind of chemical warfare agents to suppress the post-war Shiia rebellion in southern Iraq or whether US forces were exposed to these agents as a result. Additionally, it is doubtful continued investigation would produce findings more accurate or verifiable than those found thus far.
Conventional weapons can cause injuries that resemble the blisters caused by blister agents.
The refugees had no means to positively identify the weapons as chemical. Language barriers and the refugees' lack of understanding of what constitutes a chemical weapon also inhibited our ability to come to a positive conclusion. However, US forces lacked the ability to corroborate these reports. US forces had no access to any of the cities where the attacks took place. Soldiers described injuries to Iraqis that may have been caused by chemical warfare agents, but such injuries are difficult to distinguish from those caused by other means, including white phosphorous and acids, both of which Iraq is either known or suspected to have used.