Poison Gas !

The passage of time has almost erased memories of gas warfare back in the days of " The Great War " of 1914-18.    Both sides used " Phosgene " and " Mustard gas " against opposing forces and every soldier was expected to keep a gas mask handy.

At least the use of poison gas was a purely battlefield weapon and not used on the civilian population - and it was a fickle killer.   A wind change could easily turn it back and inflict damage on the originator - and when the war ended the newly formed League of Nations made poison gas a " prohibited weapon of war ".

Twenty years later - and the world was again at war.   This time the civilian population of both sides became the prime target of aerial bombing.  The big question was whether poison gas would be used in the fray and gas masks were issued as a precaution.   Fortunately, the ban held - and the vast gas dumps never saw active service,

The end of the second world war ushered in the " Atomic Age ".   Soon, both sides of the " Cold War " menaced each other with nuclear bomb stockpiles - and the doctrine of MAD - " Mutually Assured Destruction " - saw the nuclear missiles confined to their silos.   This became the age of " proxy war ".   Small scale insurgencies orchestrated by the main players, but lacking the risk of a major confrontation between the nuclear armed " big players ".

Now the " war scenario " has changed again.   Religion has emerged as the basis for hostilities and the fighting is happening in the streets of cities between people who wear civilian clothes.   The description of " Soldier " has been replaced with that of " Terrorist " - and it seems that all restraint on forms of warfare no longer apply.

Civil war is raging in Syria and for the first time poison gas has re-emerged in this new civilian battlefield.    The weaponry is more sophisticated than the old lung tearing mustard gas and we are now deploying nerve toxins from the arsenals developing by all the major opposing powers.

It is fast developing into a " Whodunnit " !    Both sides of the Syrian civil war accuse the other and the United Nations scientists are barred from entering the area to carry out scientific tests that would determine the actual agent used.

Now that a line has been crossed, there is the expectation that chemical weapons will enter the orbit of terrorist warfare.   It seems inevitable that the secrets of manufacture will spread, and just as crude drug labs exist in the world, it will be possible for religious terrorists to create the means to cause death and destruction on civilian populations.

There seems no hope of shutting the stable door - now that the horse has bolted.   The " Great Powers " continue to play the game of political chess and oppose any hope of a mutual action to shut down this emerging menace.

It seems that a new chapter has been turned in " the book of life " !