The world recently watched a video of Abdulhamid al-Youssef as he carried his white-shrouded twins to their final resting place. Ahmad and Aya were nine-months-old and had been killed along with 17 other members of Mr al-Youssef’s wife in a war crime: the use of banned nerve agents by the Assad regime on the morning of April 4. The attack took place in Khan Sheikoun, the northern Idlib province in war-torn Syria. Mr al-Youssef escaped death because he was already at his shop. The attack came at 0630. He came home in time to watch his entire family die from the effects of Sarin – or perhaps a newer version of an organophosphate agent. The total death toll was 80, including many women and children.
On August 21, 2013, the Syrian military allegedly attacked its civilian population that was already under siege in East Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus. The death toll in that attack was around 1500 civilians, including hundreds of children.
There was quick condemnation from the United Nations with the United States in the lead. The Security Council passed Resolution 2118, which set out plans for the destruction of the stockpile of Syria’s chemical weapons. President Obama had declared earlier that any use of chemical weapons would result in a “red line” being crossed. The United States military, in conjunction with the French, prepared to take a decisive action. Russia stepped in to support the Assad regime. A deal was brokered to “remove and destroy” the regime’s chemical weapons and the military forces stood down. Russia was to be the guarantor of that agreement.
The lethality of nerve gas is also dramatically higher than chlorine. The nerve agents affect the nervous system directly by affecting nerve transmissions. This causes seizures and loss of muscle control
Chlorine, on the other hand, was not one of those monitored chemicals. It has many industrial uses: When it is weaponised, it is considered to be a “choking agent”. It has a very distinctive smell and colour. It causes irritation of the eyes, nose, bronchial tubes and lung tissue. It can cause bronchospasm and can lead to death if the body is unable to clear out the excessive fluid buildup.
On March 25, 2017, an orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Ali Darwish, was operating on a patient outside of Hama, Syria. Two barrel bombs were dropped by Syrian Army helicopters and a strong smell of chlorine spread throughout the hospital. Because of previous attacks, the operating rooms had been moved underground without good ventilation. He refused to leave his patient. He finished the operation, but by the time he got to fresh air, it was too late. He died several hours later secondary to severe lung injury from the chlorine gas. As many as 13 other medical personnel and 18 patients were severely injured in this attack.
When President Trump was giving a news conference at the White House with Kind Abdullah II of Jordan you could see that he was shaken by the visuals of Mr al-Youseff and his babies. He took ownership of the “Syrian crisis” and vowed to respond
In the early morning of April 4, 2017, the Syrian government again, using barrel bombs and rockets, attacked the city of Khan Sheikoun. By all accounts, both verbal and video, there appeared to be nerve gas weaponised in those rockets in addition to the usual ordinance in the barrels. Unlike chlorine, nerve gas is odourless and so, until the symptoms begin, the victims don’t know to seek shelter and distance. The lethality of nerve gas is also dramatically higher than chlorine. The nerve agents affect the nervous system directly by affecting nerve transmissions. This causes seizures and loss of muscle control. The muscles controlling breathing (intercostals, diaphragm, etc) are also affected so your patient essentially suffocates to death in front of your eyes. There is no antidote for chlorine exposure other than water showers and removal from the source. The use of Atropine and other injectable agents are effective against Sarin if they are administered in a timely manner.
Although there are counter narratives being written, there really isn’t any doubt that the Syrian regime was responsible for this attack. Since Russia was supposed to be monitoring their ally, they were either complicit or duped.
When President Trump was giving a news conference at the White House with Kind Abdullah II of Jordan you could see that he was shaken by the visuals of Mr al-Youseff and his babies. He took ownership of the “Syrian crisis” and vowed to respond. One day later, he did that with a missile attack on one of the Syrian airbases. The effectiveness can be debated but the message can’t.
As I mentioned earlier Abdulhamid al-Youssef “escaped death”. If you see his grief, you’ll realise that this life has been and will be hell. May Aya and Ahmad be in whatever heaven this family believes in. Insha’Allah.
