General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The disconnect by Americans re violence in Syria is sickening. [View all]HardTimes99
(2,049 posts)has no moral standing to wax sanctimonious about other forces' use of killing technologies. When the U.S. uses drones to kill anonymously and from great heights, we justify their use with the Law of War. When irregulars such as Al Qaida use suicide bombers to kill, we castigate them by calling the tactic 'terrorism.'
But, since you asked, I would respond that civil wars are far more complicated and difficult to assess combatants' relative strengths and weaknesses than are conventional conflicts between nation states or between a nation state and a body of irregulars like Al Qaida. One argument I've seen against Assad's use of CBW on his own people is that he was on the verge of winning the civil war, thus in a position of relative strength. I've seen arguments alleging that Assad felt himself on the ropes and on the verge of being defeated, thus in a position of relative weakness.