US investigates lethal use of CS Gas in Syria, turns ‘blind eye’ to Ally in Bahrain as regime buries Villages in lethal clouds of chemical gas each day

Keeping it real: CS Gas is a lethal Chemical Weapon when used as such. It is has been used to deliberately and recklessly to kill and injure people in Bahrain. Those who argue the finer aspects of classifications of such weapons as “riot control agents” vs “chemical weapons” are deluded and cynical when it comes to the misery, suffering and murder of people with such weapons. The symptoms of Chemical Weapons attack in Homs, Syria last December included; labored breathing, disorientation, hallucination, nervousness and lack of limb control and those much closer to the source of the gas had much more severe symptoms, including paralyses, seizures, muscle spasms and in some cases blindness. Six people were killed by chemical gas and scores injured.

U.S. officials said the symptoms suffered by those who inhaled the gas in Homs were similar to those in people exposed to Agent 15. Agent 15 is an incapacitating and easily manufactured and kept in arsenals throughout the Middle East. Agent 15 is controlled by the Chemical Weapons Convention. CS gas is also prohibited in war under the terms of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, though it is widely used by domestic police for riot control. The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits only military use of CS gas. Five nations have not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention: Angola, Egypt, North Korea, Somalia, and Syria.

People have been suffering the symptoms; labored breathing, disorientation, hallucination, nervousness and lack of limb control, paralyses, seizures, muscle spasms, blindness and miscarriage as a result of Agent 15 or lethal use of toxic CS gas since the brutal repression started in Bahrain in February, 2011. Early use of Chemical Agents against protesters in Bahrain were treated in emergency rooms, resulting in arrest and imprisonment of scores of doctors and medical staff who treated what they understood as symptoms of Chemical Weapons attacks. Chemical Weapons attacks resulting in death have occurred as recently as last week in Bahrain – [Jan.2013]. Entire Villages in Bahrain are suffocated in Clouds of Chemical Gas on a daily basis. There have been no investigations into the lethal Chemical Weapons attacks or misuse of Chemical Weapons in Bahrain by US State Department or any other International Agency. Phlipn Out

U.S.: Syria didn’t use chemical weapons in Homs incident
By Elise Labott – 16 January, 2012

The Syrian government did not use chemical weapons against residents of Homs in a December attack, a U.S. State Department investigation shows, but did apparently misuse a riot-control gas in the incident, according to senior U.S. officials.

The investigation stemmed from allegations inside Syria about the use of chemical weapons during an attack on the city of Homs on December 23. The officials said the State Department launched a probe from its consulate in Istanbul after doctors and activists reported dozens of victims suffering from nervous system, respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments after inhaling the gas.

Foreign Policy’s “The Cable” blog reported Tuesday that a secret diplomatic cable provided a “compelling case” that President Bashar al-Assad’s military used chemical weapons in the attack.

The United States was informed of the incident by representatives of a non-governmental organization working in Syria, who told the U.S. consulate in Turkey that they believed a chemical attack took place in Homs, according to a U.S. official. The NGO set up some interviews for the consulate, which then wrote a cable discussing the concerns. The U.S. official said the cable noted that the evidence was inconclusive that there was a chemical attack.

However, the concern triggered a more extensive investigation by the State Department, with intelligence personnel assessing online videos of the attack and pictures of the victims. Chemical weapons experts and doctors experienced in treating patients exposed to chemical weapons were also consulted, according to U.S. officials. And interviews were conducted with Syrian doctors and activists inside the country by a U.S. partner there.

The gas was determined to be a “riot control agent” that was not designed to produce lasting effects, but became more dangerous when it was released in dense areas and was not dispersed in the air quickly, the officials said.

“It is meant to be short term,” one of the officials said. “But just like with tear gas, if you breathe in an entire canister, that can have a severe effect on your lungs and other organs.”

“That doesn’t make it a chemical weapon, however,” the official said.

Dr. Abu al Fida, who treated about 30 of the approximately 100 people who were affected by the mysterious gas, told CNN the victims’ symptoms depended on their proximity to the substance.

People who were further away from the source suffered labored breathing, disorientation, hallucination, nervousness and lack of limb control, al Fida said.

But those closer to the source of the gas had much more severe symptoms, including paralyses, seizures, muscle spasms and in some cases blindness, he said. Six people were killed by the gas, the doctor said.

The senior U.S. officials said the symptoms in those who inhaled the gas were similar to those in people exposed to Agent 15, an incapacitating gas controlled by the Chemical Weapons Convention, although it was later determined not to be Agent 15.

The officials also said that while some Syrian doctors on the ground were convinced the gas was a chemical weapon, others were not.

A senior Turkish diplomat told CNN that Turkey also conducted its own investigation into the chemical weapons allegations, but found the claims to be unsubstantiated.

President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons by al-Assad’s government would cross a “red line” which would trigger a robust U.S. and international response.

“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 chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” Obama first said in August. “That would change my calculus.”

National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor said that reports about the use of chemical weapons by the regime have “not been consistent with what we believe to be true about the Syrian chemical weapons program.”

“The president was very clear when he said that if the Assad regime makes the tragic mistake of using chemical weapons, or fails to meet its obligation to secure them, the regime will be held accountable,” Vietor told CNN.

Officials tell CNN there are no plans for more robust specific action in light of the investigation. A Deputies Committee meeting of top administration officials is scheduled for Thursday, but officials say they do not expect any policy shifts. …source