Assad forces said to use poison gas in new Damascus attack

[Xithras]

27. Or it may have just been CS gas

The Assad government has made no secret of the fact that it uses CS gas, which would be perfectly legal in this situation. The description of the effects, and the lack of fatalities, suggests that it's something a bit mellower than chemical weapons.

One of the great loopholes in the international chemical weapons treaties is that it's illegal to use CS gas against foreign armies in battle, but it's perfectly legal to use it against your own people and within your own borders. That's why every SWAT team in the US has cases of the stuff, and they don't hesitate to use it against nonviolent protesters. I've been bombed with the stuff right here in the good old US of A.

Concentrated CS gas can be debilitating and cause extreme breathing problems. It's horrendous, but legal.