Islamic State Uses Chemical Weapons To Ramp Up Reign Of Terror

Chlorine gas was first unleashed in World War I and quickly spread fear and terror among unsuspecting allied soldiers.  Three years into the war, both sides of the conflict informally agreed not to use such agents of death - partly because of its volatility (wind change could reverse the flow of the gas)  and partly because it was just too destructive, even for modern warfare.  Since World War I, biological, chemical and nuclear weapons have been universally banned by the world community, except as a deterrent to war.

This month Islamic State (ISIS)  escalated their advance across Iraq and Syria by using crude chemical weapons in 2 toxic gas attacks.  The first was a chlorine gas attack against Iraqi police officers in the town of Dhuluiyah, 50 miles north of Baghdad.  They reported seeing "yellow smoke"  rolling towards them from the ISIS front line.  The officers' symptoms included vomiting and breathing difficulties;  fortunately, they all survived.  Over in the besieged Syrian town of Kobane, ISIS exploded a bomb that again unleashed chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters and civilians.  This time, the victims suffered red blisters on their skin.  Dr. Mohamed Arif Ali who treated them said:  "We do not know exactly what kind of weapons they are using but they did use poisonous materials".

The source of these weapons was the al-Muthanna chemical weapons storage facility near Baghdad captured by ISIS in June.  Both America and the United Nations denied that useable weapons could be made from these aging stockpiles.  But Michael Luhan, a representative from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had a different take:  "Basically they are like chemical weapons junkyards.  If you go to a junkyard you're not going to find a car that you can drive away, but you can go and find useable parts".

And that is exactly the point.  ISIS has the money and the human talent to make weapons of mass destruction if they can find the component parts.  And since they have often demonstrated their "will to kill",  they won't hesitate to use them.