US Plans for Use of Gas in Iraq

"Top US military planners are preparing for the US to use incapacitating biochemical weapons in an invasion of Iraq," alleges a news release from the Sunshine Project. This international NGO, which works to "avert the dangers of new weapons stemming form advances in biotechnology," contends that this is "the first official US acknowledgement that it may use (bio)chemical weapons in its crusade to rid other countries of such weapons."

The plans for the use of such weapons were revealed in the testimony of Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a February 5th appearance before the US House Armed Services Committee.

According to the news release,

plans are being made for multiple applications, including use of gas or aerosols on unarmed Iraqi civilians, in caves, and on prisoners. Rumsfeld reiterated the confusing, typical US official language about so-called "non-lethal" biochemical weapons. Rumsfeld described applications of a 'riot agent' that clearly imply the complete incapacitation of victims, combatant and non-combatant, in armed conflict - a definition and usages that are at odds with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Rumsfeld acknowledged US ratification of the CWC but expressed "regret" about its restrictions, stating that the US has "tangled ourselves up so badly" on policy for use of incapacitating biochemical weapons. Rumsfeld indicated that - in his opinion - if President Bush signs a waiver of long-standing restrictions on US use of incapacitating chemicals, that the US will be able to legally field them in Iraq and elsewhere.

On Counterpunch, Edward Hammond follows up on these revelations. The logic being deployed is impeccable: the US plans to use illegal biochemical weapons so that Iraq cannot develop illegal biochemical weapons.