US official: 'IS making and using chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria'

[pampango]

3. Juan Cole: ISIL’s campaign may be going chemical – why no international outcry?

Evidence is mounting that [so-called] Islamic State (IS) [group] is using chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria – and yet this egregious crime, which once used to be a “red line” for the rest of the world, has yet to provoke a proportionate response.

One the most compelling accusations so far is a recent report that the terrorist group used mustard gas in Marea, a Syrian town near Aleppo. No-one was killed, but around 30 people were treated for severe chemical injuries. One of the victims was a five-day-old baby. The United Nations is currently setting up an investigation into the attack, but given the seriousness of what may be a full-on chemical campaign, it all feels like too little, too late.

The world’s efforts to address the Assad regime’s chemical attacks, which spurred a diplomatic push to peacefully dismantle the stockpile, turned out to be shortlived. Assad continues to use chlorine to this day, and the US has not done anything to stop it. This is because Obama does not actually want to be involved, chemical weapons or not.

The same applies to IS. Where’s the incentive for the US to respond? Obama is far from keen to put “boots on the ground” in Syria or Iraq – and taking the alleged chemical attacks as seriously as he did the Assad stockpile only increases the pressure on him to intervene. No wonder he doesn’t want to talk about what’s happening.

http://www.juancole.com/2015/09/campaign-chemical-international.html