The use of chemical weapons

The use of chemical weapons by US forces was explicitly banned by President Gerald Ford in 1975 after CS gas [tear gas] had been repeatedly used in Vietnam to smoke out enemy soldiers and then kill them as they ran away. Britain would be in a particularly sensitive position if the US used the weapons as it drafted the convention and is still seen internationally as its most important guardian. The [UK] Foreign Office [Minister of State, Mike O'Brien] said: "All state parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention have undertaken not to use any toxic chemical or its precursor, including riot-control agents. This applies in any armed conflict."

The M33A1 bulk CS chemical dispenser, 21 of which appear together with their M254 high pressure loading kits in the leaked U.S weapons list for Iraq

The United States has at least 2,386 "non-lethal" chemical weapons deployed in Iraq. The items appear in a spectacular 2,000 page battle planning leak obtained by government transparency group Wikileaks. The items are labeled under the military's own NATO supply classification Chemical weapons and equipment.

In the weeks prior to the March 19, 2003 commencement of the Iraq war, the United States received a widely reported rebuke from its primary coalition partner, the United Kingdom, over statements by the then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld suggesting that the US would use CS gas for "flush out" operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Subsequently Washington has been quiet about whether it has deployed CS gas and other chemical weapons or not. 

The use of chemical weapons such as CS gas for military operations is illegal. The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, drafted by the United Kingdom and ratified by the United States, declares “Each State Party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare”. Permissible uses are restricted to "law enforcement including domestic riot control."

Riot control agents, according to former Clinton Administration National Security Council analyst Elisa D. Harris, speaking to the New York Times, are cited explicitly because they have a history of escalating misuse leading into uncontrolled chemical warfare. They are given special treatment under the convention in a number of ways. They are uniquely and explicitly:

1. defined (Art. II.7),
2. prohibited for use as a method of warfare (Art. I.5),
3. required to be declared (Art. III.1(e)),
4. cited in Art. X.8(b) on investigation and assistance if used against a State Party, and
5. permitted for a purpose not prohibited by the Convention, namely, “law enforcement including domestic riot control purposes” (Art. II.9(d))

Most items on the Chemical weapons and equipment list were registered via the US Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, 5183 Blackhawk Rd, Gunpowder, Maryland. 

There is the M33A1, as pictured above, a high pressure backpack CS/CR gas or liquid dispenser and the M254, its high pressure loading kit. On April 11, 2003 the US military TACOM contracting office put out a tender solicitation for 75 to 225 units. 

The most numerous item on the chemical weapons equipment list is a vehicle mounted gas canister launcher, the "DISCHARGER GRSCL XM7", used to launch 66mm smoke and CS gas grenades. The split between smoke and CS gas usage cannot be determined as the list does not cover expendables such as munitions.

Similarly regular field artillery or grenade launchers may be used to launch CS gas or other chemical weapons shells, and there are references to items as the L96A1 CS grenade in training literature on US Army websites , but the list would not cover these cases. Prior to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, the US produced a GB (sarin) binary nerve agent weapon, the M687 projectile (a 155-mm artillery shell), and was in the late stages of development of two other binary weapons when its known offensive chemical warfare program was terminated. 

The most commonly deployed weapon classified under 1040 - Chemical weapons and equipment is the "DISCHARGER GRSL XM7" a vehicle mounted grenade launcher. Since this can be used with smoke or CS gas grenades we consider those units carrying purely CS gas weapons.

Notable units with purely chemical weapons

Military Police (MP)

It is of interest that US MP units carry large quantities of pure CS gas weapons. For instance, the 144th carries 13 pure CS gas dispensers, not including its 34 XM7 smoke/CS gas grenade launchers. If these weapons are used to disperse gatherings of Iraqi civilians then we must ask to what extent US soldiers in Iraq are suppressing legitimate political dissent or undermining the just purview of the national government of Iraq.

If CS gas weapons are not being used to suppress protests or other gatherings ("riot control", but clearly not domestic) then we must ask what purpose these weapons are for given that riot control agents are prohibited for use as a method of warfare under the Chemical Weapons Convention (1997).

Non-policing units using purely CS gas weapons

If we exclude military police units and "dual use" weapons like the XM7 & FN303, we are left with a number of combat units equipped with purely CS gas weapons.

The following information suggests that the United States has breached the Chemical Weapons Convention by employing riot control agents not only for non-domestic riot control, but as a method of warfare. In particular, the M33A1, pictured at the start of this article, is ideally suited to offensive urban "flush out" operations but with its full body suit has limited defensive application.