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Articles on Chemical weapons

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Royal Canadian Air Force personnel load non-lethal and lethal aid at CFB Trenton, Ont., on March 7, 2022. The cargo was bound for Ukraine via Poland. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Ukraine war shows grim conventions on ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to kill — and what makes a war crime

The laws of war and what is considered acceptable and unacceptable weaponry suggest there’s a right and wrong way to kill. It’s unlikely any of the victims of war would appreciate the distinction.
Members of the Maryland Air National Guard arrange medical supplies for shipment from the Strategic National Stockpile. Master Sgt. Christopher Schepers/Maryland Air National Guard

Coronavirus: Strategic National Stockpile was ready, but not for this

The paradox of the stockpile is that it’s meant to protect against future threats, but is limited by today’s imagination about what those threats might be.
Benny Marty/Shutterstock.com

US and Iran have a long, troubled history

Some of the major events in US-Iran relations highlight the differences between the nations’ views, but others presented real opportunities for reconciliation.
In 2014, this boy was affected by what activists say was a gas attack on the Syrian town of Telminnes; the most recent chemical attack was reported in late November, 2018 REUTERS/Amer Alfaj

Syria may be using chemical weapons against its citizens again – here’s how international law has changed to help countries intervene

For decades, international law did not allow one country to attack another that was using chemical weapons on its own people without UN approval. That’s changed, which means trouble for Syria.
Chemical weapons in civilian attacks;: Novichok decontamination work in the area where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were found poisoned and unconscious in Salisbury, UK. Shutterstock/Amani A

It’s the right time to review the world’s chemical weapons convention

The use of chemical weapons has shifted from the battlefield to attacks on civilian targets. Time to rethink the convention that prohibits their use.
In this file photo taken on on Oct. 4, 1987, a Soviet army officer presents ammunition rigged with chemical agents during a visit by Western diplomats and journalists to a chemical weapons research facility in Shikhany, Saratov region, Russia. The facility in Shikhany led the efforts to develop Soviet chemical weapons, including Novichok-class nerve agents. John Thor Dahlburg/ AP Photo

What is Novichok? A neurotoxicologist explains

Novichok are a set of molecules that are some of the most deadly nerve agents ever developed. They are almost impossible to detect and clean up.
A woman holds a Syrian flag during a protest against air strikes on Syria in Baghdad, Iraq on April 15, 2018. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

US airstrikes in Syria nothing more than theater

Are air strikes really a way to hold the Syrian regime responsible for its alleged atrocities against humanity? History says no.
A Syrian soldier films the damage of the Syrian Scientific Research Center which was attacked by U.S., British and French military strikes. AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

Syria, chemical weapons and the limits of international law

The United Nations Charter doesn’t allow the use of military force to prevent chemical weapons attacks — no matter how evil — without UN Security Council approval. That needs to change.

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