Syria’s chemical weapons raise stakes in civil war

When the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, said it would be “reprehensible” if Syria contemplates the use of chemical weapons, he was being overly diplomatic. Ban should have delivered a stern warning to President Bashar Assad: The world will not let you do to your people or to anyone else what Saddam Hussein did to the Kurds in the 1980s.

Then, as now, a merciless dictator was involved in the slaughter of his own people, and embarked on a campaign to cleanse the country of his perceived enemies.

In 1988, Saddam sought to exterminate the Kurds by unleashing a chemical and biological attack that killed an estimated 10,000 people. The television images of the petrified bodies of children lying on the streets in the villages in northern Iraq will never be forgotten.

Operation Anfal, the military campaign launched in the final months of the Iraq-Iran war, was designed to crush independent-minded Kurdish militias and clear the Kurds from the sensitive Iranian border area of northern Iraq.

Saddam claimed the militias had ties to Iran.

In accusing the Iraqi dictator of genocide, prosecutors in his 2006 trial said the Anfal campaign included “savage military attacks on civilians” including “the use of mustard gas and nerve agents … to kill and maim rural villagers and to drive them out of their home.”

Saddam was put to death after a trial on charges that he was responsible for the deaths of more than 140 Shiites.

There are parallels between what occurred in Iraq during Saddam’s bloody reign and what is taking place in Syria today. President Assad has shown a disturbing disregard for the rising opposition to his rule and the demands from the growing legions of detractors that he resign.

As the civil war drags on and the death toll of men, women and children — 20,000 at last count — grows, Assad, his henchmen and the military are doubling down on the violence against the rebels.

Foreign ministry warning

Against that backdrop, the warning from Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi that chemical weapons would be used in the event of a foreign attack must not be taken lightly.

“No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used, during the crisis in Syria no matter what the developments inside Syria,” Makdissi said. “All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression.”

The confirmation that Syria possesses chemical and biological weapons has changed the complexion of the civil war. There must be a new sense of urgency to force Assad from power and install a democratically elected government.

If the conflict drags on and the death toll rises, both sides will step up their attacks. At some point, the government in Damascus will decide that extreme measures are warranted.

A justification will be found for the use of chemical and biological weapons — just as Saddam Hussein did when he massacred the Kurds.

The United Nations cannot appear to be weak in the face of such a great humanitarian threat in Syria. Secretary General Ban must find a way of persuading Russia and China to end their opposition to any Security Council initiative that would end the government’s military crackdown on the dissidents. Economic sanctions could work if all nations adhered to them. But with Russia and China refusing to go along, President Assad has no incentive to leave.