On April 22, 1915, the German army launched an attack to reduce the Allied salient at Ypres, Belgium. After the preparatory bombardment died down, the Germans released chlorine gas from canisters (5730 90-lb canisters) they had moved to the frontline trenches. The gas, which is heavier than air, was propelled by the wind and seeped into trenches manned by French reservists and colonial troops. Panic ensued as about 6,000 unprepared troops died in about ten minutes. This marked the first use of a chemical agent as a lethal weapon in modern warfare.

Back in 2013, Syria was accused of using chemical agents against the opposition. True to form, the Syrian army didn’t make much of a distinction between combatants and civilians. This quickly became one of Barack Obama’s “red lines.” I use quote marks here because no one really knows what in the hell Obama is talking about when he talks about “red lines.” I think it is some kind of a communist code phrase for “do whatever it is you want to do,” because Iranian nuclear weapons were also a “red line” and now he’s agreed that they can develop them. To avoid having to deal with the “red line,” Barack Obama turned to Russia… a nation always known to have our back in a crisis… to negotiate a deal with its client state.

The United States and Russia have agreed that Syrian chemical weapons will be placed under international control and destroyed in a process that will begin with a week.

International inspectors from the Organisation of the Prevention of Chemical weapons must be given “immediate and unfettered” access to Syrian chemical weapons, said the US secretary of state, John Kerry, while Syria must give a “comprehensive list” of its chemical weapons within one week.

Speaking at a press conference in Geneva on Saturday after three days of talks, Kerry outlined the details of the deal as Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov looked on.

The deal “would allow us to expedite the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons” which would protect the Syrian people, Syria’s neighbours and the world.

How well did this work out?

Chemical weapons investigators concluded “with a high degree of confidence” that chlorine gas was used as a weapon against three Syrian villages last year, affecting between 350 and 500 people and killing 13, according to a report obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

This should be a cause of concern, right? But not to Barrack freakin-Hussein Obama.

Widespread reports of chlorine gas attacks in Syria have not been prevented – or acted upon – because chlorine is not “historically” considered a chemical weapon, US President Barack Obama stated Thursday.

Obama was forced to answer the chlorine question during a press conference from a summit at Camp David with leaders of the Gulf states. Syria and Iran were key issues at the conference.

However, when pressed about chlorine, Obama evaded defining it as a “weapon,” noting that it has many other non-threatening uses, as caught in this footage from the Washington Free Beacon.

One doesn’t even know where to go with this line of Martian logic. Not only is chlorine “historically” a chemical weapon but it is “historically” the first modern chemical weapon. Apparently Obama is saying that it is perfectly permissible for Syria to use chemical weapons of its civilians so long as the weapons have a non-military function. Presumably, nerve agents that had been developed as pesticides would be just fine, too.

This kind of specious bull**** is why it is folly for the Congress to allow Obama to negotiate anything on behalf of the United States with its approval. The man is a nitwit and a moral cripple. His only allegiance is to himself and to what he perceives to be his legacy.