Ypres 1915 - Syria 2015, Chlorine Gas Attacks Continue But Obama's Red Line Has Disappeared

“We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation." ~~~~~ Everyone recognizes that statement. It was uttered by President Obama at a White House press conference on August 20, 2012. He went on to say : "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." And everyone also knows that, finally, Obama rubbed out the red line and abandoned the whole problem, turning it over to the UN after it became clear that the al-Assad regime had used sarin gas on its own civilians, killing more than a thousand of them. ~~~~~ Fast forward to today. ~~~~~ Syrian doctors confirmed what activists reported after a March 16 attack in Idlib province, telling the UN Security Council recently that helicopters were heard flying above the village of Sarmin. There was then a thud and an overpowering smell of bleach before dozens of people began arriving at the local hospital with breathing difficulties. Activists in Idlib said that the al-Assad Syrian government dropped five barrel bombs containing chlorine gas on the city in March. The Syrian government denies it was responsible for the Idlib attack. A video recently shown to the Security Council showed the desperate attempts by doctors to revive three children, aged one, two and three, as well as their grandmother and parents. ~~~~~ The attack on Sarmin came just days after the Security Council approved a resolution that condemned the use of toxic chemicals such as chlorine in Syria and threatened military action in case of further violations. Chlorine is a common industrial chemical, but its use in weapons is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The US and other Security Council members have long accused the al-Assad regime of carrying out chemical weapons attacks. They say that the Syrian military is the only party in the conflict that has helicopters, which were heard in Sarmin and in other places targeted by chemical attacks using barrel bombs. Syrian doctors have told the United Nations that chlorine gas attacks continue in the country long after the government's stockpile of chemical weapons was reportedly destroyed last year. ~~~~~ Chlorine is not a very effective chemical weapon because it normally disperses rapidly in open areas. making it ineffective on a battlefield, but it can be fatal if inhaled heavily after exploding in an enclosed space, as big barrel bomb drops, which is what appears to have happened in some recent Syria incidents. But, chlorine can be very effective as psychological warfare for al-Assad, evoking traumatic memories of the much more serious sarin chemical attacks in 2013. And, if the reports are confirmed, there may also be an element of defiance and pushback involved -- al-Assad and his military leaders know they can count on Russian diplomatic protection under Russia's Security Council veto unless the outrages are too horrible to ignore. Here are some known fatal chemical attacks in Syria : **March 2015: Chlorine suspected in attacks on four villages in Idlib province, including Sarmin - six dead, at least 206 people affected. **April/May 2014: OPCW concludes chlorine attacks likely used in attacks on three villages in Idlib - 13 dead. ** 21 August 2013: Sarin gas in attacks on two Damascus suburbs - between 200 and 1,400 dead. **19 March 2013: Sarin gas attack on Aleppo - 19 dead. A report last year by a fact-finding mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a toxic chemical, almost certainly chlorine, was used repeatedly in attacks on villages in Northern Syria. Witnesses were quoted as saying : "Leaves on plants...wilted 'like autumn leaves.'" The report said : "In one case, a child standing close to the impact site died later because of exposure to the toxic chemical." ~~~~~ The use of chlorine gas as a weapon dates from World War I. The first large-scale use of chlorine as a weapon occurred at Ipres, Belgium, on April 22, 1915, exactly one century ago today, when German troops opened the taps on a line of chlorine tanks to send a poisonous cloud drifting, mingled with dense fog, across no man's land and into WWI Allied trenches. The gas blinded soldiers and made them retch, vomit and choke, combining with bodily fluids to destroy their lungs. There was no denying gas attacks a century ago in Flanders. The Ipres chlorine gas attack unleashed the massive use of gas by both Germany and the Allies during the last three years of the First World War. Chemical weapons killed nearly 100,000 and injured 1 million more during the conflict. ~~~~~ Dear readers, as for Obama's red line -- he affirmed it 7 times before backing off from it. Then he changed his narrative. He first said that the red line wasn't his, but was the world's red line. He even accused Fox News of making an inaccurate "translation" of his red line remark, whereas all Fox was doing was repeating his exact quote. In October 2014, Obama's former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said drawing the red line, threatening Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad with military strikes if he unleashed chemical weapons on his people, was “the right thing to do.” But once Obama did that, according to Panetta : “then I think the credibility of the United States is on the line.” Once the United States had proof that al-Assad used chemical weapons, killing 1,400 people, Panetta said : “then it was important for us to stand by our word and go in and do what a commander in chief should do.” Instead, Obama shocked the world by asking Congress to vote to give him the authority to carry out airstrikes against Assad, a step lawmakers predictably refused to take because Obama didn't need congressional approval and could have acted under the War Powers Act. The President then pulled back, which “sent a mixed message, not only to Assad, not only to the Syrians, but [also] to the world.,” Panetta said. “And that is something you do not want to establish in the world, an issue with regard to the credibility of the United States to stand by what we say we're gonna do." Here is the YouTube video of Syrian doctors trying to save the three children after the latest al-Assad chlorine barrel bomb attack. It is a forceful reminder of the result of President Obama's failure to control al-Assad when it would have been relatively easy and might have saved the last 2+ years of deadly Syrian civil war, which has imbedded ISIS, as well as Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, in the country. Be warned - the video is graphic. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xwtok4rcfw8