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ISIS using mustard gas against the Kurds; Would this be an Obama red line?
8/14/15
U.S. officials and other allies confirmed Thursday the terrorist army of ISIS began using mustard gas this week in attacks against Kurdish fighters in Iraq.
The attack, first reported by German Defense Ministry officials, came Wednesday near Erbil in northern Iraq. The gas was likely delivered by rockets.
But the use of chemical agents elevates the capability of ISIS forces and creates new potential threats for forces combating ISIS without training in countering chemicals' use. It also creates a potential new issue for the American presidential competitions.
Hillary Clinton, former secretary of State and now a Democrat candidate, once called chemical weapon use "a red line for the world."
Use of the sulfurous gas, which causes blindness, breathing difficulty and searing skin blisters, is not only a violation of international law, one of many things ISIS disdains. But it also crosses the controversial red line drawn by President Obama three years ago this month on the use of chemical weapons in the Mideast.
"We have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region that that's a red line for us and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons. That would change my calculations significantly" about U.S. military involvement, the president said in a special news briefing.
In an April 2013 letter to senators, the White House appeared to expand the red line warning (our italics): "The president has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons — or transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups — is a red line for the United States of America."
In August 2013 Obama vowed punitive air strikes on Syria. But backed down in the face of congressional opposition and Russian President Putin's offer to broker a deal for Syria to allegedly turn over all of its chemical weapons. Obama proclaimed that process completed 14 months ago.
So, how and where did ISIS acquire the outlawed gas for use now? Perhaps capturing Syrian supplies not surrendered.
Obama, who's still on vacation, has been noticeably less outspoken since his red line debacle, emphasizing instead U.S. training of Kurdish, Iraqi and Syrian opposition troops. That hasn't gone too well, as we noted here. Weeks into an offensive to recapture Ramadi, Iraqi troops are struggling. But at least they're not fleeing this time.
Far more effective as fighters have been the Kurds. Despite longstanding and unfulfilled promises of lethal aid from the U.S., the determined soldiers remain under-armed. They're the same people who lost thousands in chemical weapon attacks by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 1988.
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8/14/15
U.S. officials and other allies confirmed Thursday the terrorist army of ISIS began using mustard gas this week in attacks against Kurdish fighters in Iraq.
The attack, first reported by German Defense Ministry officials, came Wednesday near Erbil in northern Iraq. The gas was likely delivered by rockets.
But the use of chemical agents elevates the capability of ISIS forces and creates new potential threats for forces combating ISIS without training in countering chemicals' use. It also creates a potential new issue for the American presidential competitions.
Hillary Clinton, former secretary of State and now a Democrat candidate, once called chemical weapon use "a red line for the world."
Use of the sulfurous gas, which causes blindness, breathing difficulty and searing skin blisters, is not only a violation of international law, one of many things ISIS disdains. But it also crosses the controversial red line drawn by President Obama three years ago this month on the use of chemical weapons in the Mideast.
"We have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region that that's a red line for us and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons. That would change my calculations significantly" about U.S. military involvement, the president said in a special news briefing.
In an April 2013 letter to senators, the White House appeared to expand the red line warning (our italics): "The president has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons — or transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups — is a red line for the United States of America."
In August 2013 Obama vowed punitive air strikes on Syria. But backed down in the face of congressional opposition and Russian President Putin's offer to broker a deal for Syria to allegedly turn over all of its chemical weapons. Obama proclaimed that process completed 14 months ago.
So, how and where did ISIS acquire the outlawed gas for use now? Perhaps capturing Syrian supplies not surrendered.
Obama, who's still on vacation, has been noticeably less outspoken since his red line debacle, emphasizing instead U.S. training of Kurdish, Iraqi and Syrian opposition troops. That hasn't gone too well, as we noted here. Weeks into an offensive to recapture Ramadi, Iraqi troops are struggling. But at least they're not fleeing this time.
Far more effective as fighters have been the Kurds. Despite longstanding and unfulfilled promises of lethal aid from the U.S., the determined soldiers remain under-armed. They're the same people who lost thousands in chemical weapon attacks by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 1988.
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