Today’s non-story

I'm sure if Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds took another few minutes to look at this U.N. story that's all over the cable news, he'd realize that it's another false alarm. Glenn's breathless post: WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION FOUND: At the United Nations? "ABCNews has learned that United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of ...

I'm sure if Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds took another few minutes to look at this U.N. story that's all over the cable news, he'd realize that it's another false alarm. Glenn's breathless post:

I'm sure if Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds took another few minutes to look at this U.N. story that's all over the cable news, he'd realize that it's another false alarm. Glenn's breathless post:

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION FOUND: At the United Nations? "ABCNews has learned that United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous nerve gas, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York Thursday morning." And yes, I know that phosgene isn't a nerve gas. So does ABC, but you have to read farther. Give 'em a break — this was rushed.

UPDATE: Ouch: "Aren't these the guys who are supposed to be keeping track of Iranian uranium enrichment?"

The real story, from CNN.com:

The material was taken from al-Muthanna chemical weapons plant north of Baghdad. The samples are sealed and have been there since 1996.

The samples were in containers that ranged in size "from small vials to tubes the length of a pen," Okabe said.

Ewan Buchanan, a spokesman for UNMOVIC, said the substances are in a sealed metal box and wrapped in a plastic bag, "so there is no immediate danger."

And actually, it's the IAEA that deals with Iran's uranium enrichment, not UNMOVIC. UNMOVIC doesn't even formally exist anymore, since it was set up to deal with Iraq and was disbanded on June 27 of this year. Which is why, of course, they were cleaning out the offices in the first place.

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