There is, of course, the possibility that embattled President Bashar al-Assad, fighting to save his dynastic regime, might decide to use chemical weapons against those struggling to bring about his downfall. No one knows if he or his hard-line generals would resort to such a horrific move if they felt they were facing defeat. But, given the regime's ruthless crackdown on its opponents since the uprising erupted March 15, 2011, with some 6,000 people killed, using chemical weapons against his enemies, or even against foreign military intervention, cannot be ruled out.
"It's not unlikely that in a developing civil war in Syria, or in the event of Assad's regime collapsing, chemical weapons will fall into the wrong hands," warned retired Israeli Gen. Michael Herzog. "In an extreme scenario an irresponsible actor might even use such weapons, especially against Israel." The only known use of chemical weapons in recent decades has been in the Middle East.
Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser used mustard gas against royalist forces in the 1963-70 Yemen civil war. The first attack by the Egyptians, who backed the republicans, was an airstrike using mustard gas against the village of Kawma June 8, 1963, killing seven people. Saddam Hussein used mustard gas and the nerve agents sarin, tabun and VX against rebellious Kurds in the 1980s, most notoriously in the northeastern town of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan March 16, 1988. That massacre during the closing days of the Iran-Iraq war killed 3,200-5,000 people. Thousands more died later. It was the most devastating chemical attack against civilians in history.
During that Persian Gulf conflict, both sides repeatedly used poison gas against each other's military forces. "If Syria collapses into chaos over the next few weeks and months, or the army splits between Assad's fellow Alawites and the majority Sunnis, a key questions will be the fate of these chemical weapons and their delivery systems," observed former CIA officer Bruce Riedel. "Terrorist groups, such as Assad's friends Hezbollah and Hamas, would love to get sarin warheads," said Riedel, who was a counter-terrorism specialist and analyst during a 29-year career with the CIA until he retired in 2006. "Whether they could maintain and use them is another question."
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Concerns grow over Assad's chemical arms - UPI.com