A " War Crime " !

The last combatants of the First World war are all now dead and memories of what was called " The Great War " are reduced to sketchy movie technology and photographs locked away in ancient family albums.   That was the war when the soldiers of both sides faced the horror of gas warfare !

At the time, the authorities heavily censored newspaper reports because of its effect on public morale but there was no disguising the " gassed " survivors who were repatriated home.  Their lungs were scarred and the effects of mustard gas on their bodies was evident until the day of their death and for many that was a merciful release.

Gas was an insidious weapon.  Odourless and colourless, the victim was unaware of its presence - until the throat rasping commenced and the itching - and by then it was too late.   It was heavier than air and it collected in the bottom of trenches.   It could go on killing, long after the " all clear " had sounded.

The old League of Nations declared poison gas a prohibited weapon and its use would constitute a war crime.  That prohibition mercifully held during the years of the second world war and the gas stocks held by both sides remained unused.   The development of nuclear weapons has prevented another world war, but the proxy wars that have pitted guerrilla armies against one another are now being conducted with a savagery we thought ended in the middle ages.

Poison gas was used in the war between Iraq and Iran last century and now we have another war in the Middle East as Islamic State attempts to carve our a new caliphate.   The new killing field is Syria, where dictator Assad is facing a rebellion - and once again the spectre of chemical warfare is releasing the horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Warplanes from Assad's air force - or from his Russian ally -  bombed the rebel held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province and civilian residents died, foaming at the mouth from some form of poison gas.   Sixty-nine people died and children were amongst the dead.   Both sides claim innocence - and blame each other.

In the confusion of this civil war it is almost impossible to accurately apportion blame. Assad's forces claim that their bombers hit a warehouse where the rebel side had stores of poison gas and consequently its release was accidental.    There is no doubt that the fear of future gas attacks will increase the flow of refugees pouring out of Syria.

The danger is that all restraint may now evaporate and gas become the weapon of choice on civilian populations.   It is readily available - and cheap.   The affect on a densely populated city would be catastrophic, and there really is no effective defence.  Gas masks are useless against modern nerve gases.

Western governments are threatening reprisals, but the " how " and the " where " are elusive. Now that a line has been crossed - there may be no way of turning back !