America's North Shore Journal

Just some info that suggests that the shells being found in Iraq full of mustard gas and sarin are not as safe as it is suggested.

BBC [scroll down]

A large amount of ammunition has been unearthed in the fields around the town of Ypres – and that is exactly where we headed.

We wanted to find out where you could get live bombs and shells, and we also met with someone who had first hand knowledge that ammunition was being stolen off the battlefields.

Domenik Dendooven is a curator at the museum and was worried live bombs and shells were disappearing before the army could make them safe.

Some of the live shells going missing are toxic and contain chemicals that could kill.

It appears that toxic shells containing mustard gas and and phosgene were being stolen and were finding their way illegally back into the UK.

So many live bombs are unearthed by farmers, there are designated spots where they are left for collection by the military.

They may be 90-years-old and look harmless but the chemical agents can be as deadly as the day they were first made. Destroying them has to take place inside a high security lab.

The scale of the problem is frightening and with toxic agents like phosgene and mustard gas, it is dangerous work.