It’s been exactly 100 years since the world saw the first deadly attack with chemical weapons. The Germans deployed tons of chlorine gas on a sector of the Western front in World War I, causing 6,000 casualties. Now chlorine gas is back on the battlefield, in Syria.
A potato gun is a WMD. At least, the strict, plain-English definition of a weapon of mass destruction would include the old-fashioned potato gun. Through changes over the years, the definition of a WMD has been broadened — and now prosecutors have all the power when it comes to charging people.
At least three countries are convinced the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons in his country’s ongoing civil war. On Thursday, U.S. officials confirmed they too believed Assad had unleashed sarin gas. But its options are limited.