You can’t stop a bullet once it’s shot either. I get what you say, but I think that there’s something else. We all understand how conventional weapons work (or at least we think we understand), but chemical weapons are different. I think we fear what we don’t know or understand. We are afraid of suddenly falling down and don’t getting up again. But I think that fear is irrational. When snipers shot down civilians in Sarajevo during Yugoslavia War those civilians didn’t see it coming nor did have any chance of escaping. All weapons can be used in the worst way, it’s the human behind the weapon who we must fear.

the reason that they are worse than a simple machine gun is that they kill far differently. You can run away from a machine gun, or, shoot the operator. But, chemical weapons once released cannot be stopped and kill everything in their path-even innocents.

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I used CS gas during military training. The big training exercise was always a tent full of CS with the mask on and then to remove the mask, spell your name and burn your eyes and then out.

Lots of folks have a violent reaction to CS including unending vomiting.

I hated it.

BRC
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True. But only against civilians. It’s illegal to use CS gas in warfare.

Also, most countries use tear gas. It is not lethal under normal circumstances, but it’s chemical for sure! Of course I’m not comparing it to mustard gas, just trying to point that this are blurred lines.

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In Italy in WWII the US lost a ship sunk by German air which had 600 tons of mustard gas. The Allies were considering using gas at Monte Cassino.

Well done. Well played.

BRC
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How dare you be so logical and intelligent. People like you are just troublemakers.

Of course, you happen to be completely correct.

Despots WILL ALWAYS USE weapons against their enemies and their own people when they must fight to retain power. That’s the definition of a despot.

Well played.

BRC
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I understand that chemical weapons can be cruel and indiscriminate with the victims, but some conventional weapons can be terrible too. I think that the act of killing is what should be examined. The method is also important, but it can’t be the only thing we look at.

And that is exactly what Obama was doing when he talked about a red line. If he believed that Syria deserved some bombing for what Assad was doing with the civil population he should have done it long ago. And if he didn’t he should have said nothing about limits and red lines.

UK, France and the US all used Phosgene. The UK also used Chlorine. In addition to the countries you’ve mentioned, the UK, France, Spain, and Poland (1939) used Mustard gas. The USA deployed it to Italy during ’43, but it’s release was inadvertent.

There are probably others. Despite the Geneva convention mustard gas did see use in WWII.

I think that when most of us say chemical we are using it as a broad term that includes biological. But maybe that’s just me!