Syria’s chlorine attack is going nowhere

Now Media – By Maya Gebeily – 15-4-2014 – (…) Unlike last August’s sarin attack, this one didn’t make waves. Analysts say it might be because, relative to other chemical agents, chlorine isn’t as dangerous. “Chlorine is actually a very poor chemical weapon,” said Dan Kaszeta, chemical weapons specialist. “Its toxicity in open air is poor, especially when compared to sarin.” The relatively low death toll – five people in Kafr Zita compared to August 21’s 1,400+ killed – might have made Kafr Zita less “shocking” for news organizations.

Since last year, the Syrian regime has been working towards handing its chemical agents over to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). After missing a number of deadlines, Bashar al-Assad’s regime has relinquished just over 60% of its stockpile, which includes internationally-banned agents like sarin, VX, and mustard gas.

Chlorine gas, however, was never on the inventory that the regime provided to the OPCW. “Chlorine was not in the Syrian declaration, but I expect it wouldn’t be,” Kaszeta said. “It is not a controlled chemical because chlorine has so many normal industrial uses,” like treating water. This is where things get interesting. If the gas used was indeed chlorine, and if a member state of the OPCW requested an investigation into the incident, and if the regime’s use of it as a chemical weapon could be proved, then Syria could be considered in breach of its deal with the OPCW. Significant international repercussions could follow. But that’s way too many ifs. Primarily, the use of chlorine gas has yet to be proved. “We do not know for certain if the attack was even chlorine, or whether it was just a chlorine container that was used to hold some other chemical,” Kaszeta said. He added that chlorine’s composition as a true gas – and not as a liquid, like sarin – makes it harder to collect environmental evidence or make solid conclusions from the medical examinations of victims.

Second, it doesn’t seem as if anyone’s willing to demand that the OPCW looks into this. The main Syrian opposition body in exile, the Syrian Opposition Coalition, has requested such an investigation – but it’s not a member state, so it can’t formally present such a request.

Third, the OPCW’s inspections of CW use in Syria so far have stayed away from pointing fingers. In August’s case, for example, OPCW’s Syria team was mandated only to determine whether a sarin attack had taken place – not who had perpetrated it. If you can’t prove the regime did it, then you can’t turn the heat up on it. So, here we are again. Five deaths aren’t much in the 150,000 killed since 2011. But international paralysis at stopping perpetrators of mass crimes – gas attacks, barrel bombs, mass executions, and so on – is becoming a terrifying trend.

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/newsandpolitics/543418-syrias-chlorine-attack-is-going-nowhere  –