11.   By giving it to the Soviets, American officials hoped, they would lead Moscow to waste time trying to develop an unusable nerve agent.

12.   Colorless and odorless, the chemical is the most toxic nerve agent known, many times deadlier than hydrogen cyanide gas.

13.   For example, Americans provide the bulk of expertise on binary chemical weapons such as the deadly nerve agent VX, which Iraq is suspected of developing.

14.   He has already built large gas chambers for testing lethal nerve agents, and UN inspectors fear they have been used on humans.

15.   He said the briefing showed that until recently confronted with undeniable evidence, Iraq had denied its capability to produce nerve agent VX.

16.   Highly toxic nerve agents are also stored at depots in Shchuchye, Kizner, Leonid-ovka, Maradykovsky and Pochep.

17.   In several instances, containment was breached, and small amounts of nerve agent escaped into the atmosphere.

18.   In reality, Tucker said, it would take a person with an advanced degree in chemistry to put together a small amount of sarin or VX nerve agent.

19.   Inspectors seeking chemical arms found arsenals full of nerve agents like tabun and sarin, tiny amounts of which are lethal.

20.   Iraq would not disclose its nuclear or biological programs or its stocks of VX, an advanced nerve agent.