Raymond J. Learsy: Syria, Iran and the Specter of Sarin Gas

This is something I had hoped never to be writing about, not because it's secret, but rather because it is so gruesome I had purposely never brought it up, nor was I ever inclined to discuss the issue. It is one of those kernels of information best left unsaid and best left to the depths of the unconscious because dealing with it is profoundly awful.

Years ago, while in the Navy, I served as the Assistant District Security Officer of the Third Naval District encompassing the area from New York through New England. In preparation for those duties, I was a thoroughly schooled in the horrific dimensions of atomic, biological and chemical warfare. A singularly unpleasant accumulation of knowledge.

Then, and as I presume now, other than atomic annihilation, the most effective and notorious weapon in any arsenal of destruction was the existence and capabilities of the nerve gas sarin. Far more dangerous than the mustard gas of bygone days, and other more recent gas weapons, sarin has the ability to kill ruthlessly with virtually no prospect of defense with barely viable and available antidotes. A mere drop of sarin nerve gas on the skin of any human is enough to break down a beings nervous system and cause inevitable death. It is a weapon to be feared and resisted at all cost.

That large stocks of sarin gas are held by the Syrian government is unnerving in the extreme. The slaughter that would ensue in its release would be enormous. That the stocks were permitted to be amassed is already a grave failing of national policies. However, given the precarious and bloody confrontations of Syria's civil war already being suffered by the Syrian people, what has become gruesomely unacceptable is the willingness of the Iranian regime to encourage the Assad regime to resort to chemical warfare, that is to say Sarin warfare. As sourced by the AP and reported in the NYPost: "O warns Syria": "US intelligence has also intercepted a communication from Iran's infamous Qud's force urging Syria to use Sarin gas against rebels and civilian supporters in the city of Homs."

Any nation so openly militating for the use of sarin gas is beyond condemnation. They and their standards become a danger to the world itself. The world need take note and clearly understand who they are dealing with!