Farnaz Alimehri
October 12, 2016
This article originally appeared in the Georgetown Security Studies Review.
The international community has known for quite some time that both the Syrian government and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have used chemical weapons in Syria. The worst, and most obvious case that comes to mind is the sarin attack in Ghouta on August 21, 2013. The chemical weapons attack in Ghouta prompted the international community, through the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), to act. Through the compliance of the Syrian government and with help from the OPCW, Syria destroyed its declared chemical weapons stockpiles in January 2016. Despite removal of Syria’s known stockpile, however, chemical weapons attacks continue in Syria.
[…]The conflict in Syria is one of the greatest tragedies the international community has faced since the dissolution of the former Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a disturbing example of the failure of international response, and the normalization of chemical weapons use in its absence.
