In a blockbuster investigative report for The New York Times, C.J. Chivers reports that U.S. forces in post-invasion Iraq came across large caches of chemical weapons that Saddam Hussein's regime had developed — with the help of the U.S. and Europe — during its war against Iran in the 1980s. The report raises a host of important questions: Why didn't the U.S. government report these findings before? Why were U.S. soldiers exposed to toxic chemical agents told to keep quiet? Why didn't they receive the appropriate medical treatment?
And of immediate concern, it appears that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is in control of areas of Iraq where chemical weapons are known to be rusting away. While U.S. officials insist that the aging weapons pose no threat, Chivers reports that they could be repurposed into crude chemical munitions:
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