The US Has No Credibility Dealing With Chemical Weapons

This is an updated and expanded version of the article “The US and Chemical Weapons: No Leg to Stand On,” originally posted in Foreign Policy in Focus on May 2, 2013.
If, as alleged, the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons, it would indeed be a serious development, constituting a breach of the Geneva Protocol of 1925… which banned the use of chemical weapons… Syria is one of only eight of the world’s 193 countries not party to the convention. However, U.S. policy regarding chemical weapons has been so inconsistent and politicized that the U.S. is in no position to take leadership in response to any use of such weaponry by Syria.