Destruction of Syrian Chemical Weapons Arsenal Begins

UN backed team

United Nations-backed weapons inspectors have begun the first phase of destroying Syria's weapons stockpile.

A joint team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and UN staff have destroyed missile warheads and aerial chemical bombs.

Comments

[Ketogenic Paleo]

Why was it ever decided that chemical weapons were "special" and had to be destroyed anyways? Unlike, say, weaponized viruses they can't threaten to depopulate large areas. They serve a tactical purpose against military forces, like carpet bombers and tactical nukes (vs. traditional nukes that are meant for cities). Granted, they're currently used on civilians in a civil war and they're still relatively barbaric but what's next? What else will the Anointed Ones come up with? The Organisation for the Prohibition of Fragmentation Weapons?

[Ketogenic Paleo]

Hey I just remembered reading somewhere the Syrian chemical attacks that were reported recently were staged by the Islamists themselves not the gov't... however I'm pretty sure I got that from a biased anti-islamofascist website or podcast so that could be false. Or not.
Damnit, the middle-east is full of conspiracies. It's hard enough being a libertarian & listening to Glenn Beck & the Kochs

[Sevo]

KP,
The prohibition was a result of the general idealism at the end of The War to End All Wars. If carpet bombing had more of an effect in that war, I'm sure it would have been outlawed also.
BTW, blockades were outlawed at the same time, as were submarine attacks without removing the souls from the ship attacked. You can see how effective those were.
For that matter, if there's no record that the Japanese used gas or bio weapons on the Chinese, it's probably because the records are buried in the Russian archives.
As to the war in Europe, the prohibition worked likely because Hitler was gassed in WWI, so he wasn't going to use it (bad idea anyhow; prevailing winds blow east), and the Allies weren't gonna be the bad guys, in spite of some pressure from Churchill.

[Harun]

Chemical weapons may be "banned" but countries still use them, and did during WW II.

White Phosphorous rounds for example are supposedly used for "signalling" purposes, but our forces in WW II used them against German bunkers to get the occupants to flee and against German tanks as a blinding agent - a real no-no, but when you are in a Sherman against a Tiger - well...you might throw some sand in their eyes too.