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Chemical weapons and society
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By Mike Cuenca | April 7, 2003
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I'm confused. On Monday, April 7, the Oakland police used tear gas,
among other nasty "crowd control" weapons, on a group of anti-war
protesters and innocent bystanders. Tear gas, either the CN or CS
variety, is banned as a chemical weapon in warfare by the Chemical
Weapons Convention (CWC). According to the Henry L. Stimson Center in
Washington, DC, the Japanese in World War II and the U.S. in Vietnam
are the only countries to have used this chemical weapon in war.
What's weird, though, is that tear gas is not banned by the CWC for use
in "domestic law enforcement." How does that work? It's immoral to use
it on the soldiers of another country, but not against your own people?
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