Evidence indicates that ISIS is using chemical weapons. Could this be a game-changer for the United States?

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 16:43:59 -0400

The Islamic State appears to have manufactured rudimentary chemical warfare shells and attacked Kurdish positions in Iraq and Syria with them as many as three times in recent weeks, according to field investigators, Kurdish officials and a Western ordnance disposal technician who examined the incidents and recovered one of the shells.

The development, which the investigators said involved toxic industrial or agricultural chemicals repurposed as weapons, signaled a potential escalation of the group’s capabilities, though it was not entirely without precedent.

Beginning more than a decade ago, Sunni militants in Iraq have occasionally used chlorine or old chemical warfare shells in makeshift bombs against American and Iraqi government forces. And Kurdish forces have claimed that militants affiliated with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, used a chlorine-based chemical in at least one suicide truck bomb in Iraq this year.

Firing chemical mortar shells across distances, however, as opposed to dispersing toxic chemicals via truck bombs or stationary devices, would be a new tactic for the group, and would require its munitions makers to overcome a significantly more difficult technical challenge.

Chemical weapons, internationally condemned and banned in most of the world, are often less lethal than conventional munitions, including when used in improvised fashion. But they are indiscriminate by nature and difficult to defend against without specialized equipment — traits that lend them potent psychological and political effects.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/18/world/middleeast/islamic-state-isis-chemical-weapons-iraq-syria.html?ref=todayspaper

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Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Jul 18 at 2015 4:45 PM

SGM Steve Wettstein — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 16:45:39 -0400

Either they made them or found some older ones in their territory in Iraq. There were a few times AQI used chemical munitions in their IEDs during OIF.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 4:54 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 16:54:42 -0400

I do not think that ISIS use of chemical weapons will affect the United States strategy for dealing with ISIS. It may influence the equipment we send in support of ours personnel, in the region. I don't see it being a game changer. It could influence changes or additions to the personnel requirements in the area as well.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jul 18 at 2015 5:28 PM

PO1 John Miller — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 17:28:32 -0400

Just make sure our gas masks and MOPP suits are good to go and let's kick some ISIS ass!

Response by MSgt Manuel Diaz made Jul 18 at 2015 5:57 PM

MSgt Manuel Diaz — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 17:57:23 -0400

One would think so; however if ISIS/ISIL terrorism does not exist in these United States, then those chemical weapons were only workplace violence amongst the Muslim brotherhood or the Kurdish people

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 7:56 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 19:56:34 -0400

Game changer.......yes.....if it can be proved we would be forced to go all in, like we should've to start with, and then this should be over with pretty quickly.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 18 at 2015 7:56 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 19:56:46 -0400