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Comment by seadan83 | Hacker News Reader

CS gas and tear gas are chemical weapons. Period. By definition. It is not a technical distinction. See WWI. The fact there are more deadly chemical weapons does not change that use of CS and tear gas are chemical weopons and their use in war would be war crimes

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The CWC does not treat tear gas as a banned chemical weapon, instead classifying it as a riot control agent (RCA). Article II(7) defines RCA as “[a]ny chemical … which can produce rapidly in humans sensory irritation or disabling physical effects which disappear within a short time … .” CWC Article I(5) prohibits using RCA “as a method of warfare,” but does not define the term method of warfare, leading to a potential exception or “loophole.”

https://www.justsecurity.org/76595/clearing-the-fog-of-war-s...

Pedanticisim aside, the .mil requires risk assessments up the wazoo for every training event, let alone using CS/OC, and they should have expected this. Hope it deploys and dissipates for 60 year old anything is a bad gamble in the desert, let alone a built up occupied urban area.

I remember a fun little fact back from the run-up to the Iraq War: Under some sections of US code, a single hand-grenade is (was?) literally a "weapon of mass destruction."

He didn't say otherwise. Under the legal definition, my 'death vindaloo' made with 3 moruga scorpion peppers is a chemical weapon, and simply the act of cooking it as a combatant in a warzone would constitute a war crime. It's also immensely delicious and one of my favorite meals, I make it twice a month.

CS gas is 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile [1], not capsacin. "Although [CS gas is] described as a non-lethal weapon for crowd control, studies have raised doubts about this classification. CS can cause severe pulmonary damage and can also significantly damage the heart and liver." [1]

Tear gas is largly bromoacetone, not capsacin [2]. Though, CS gases and tear gases can contain mixtures with capsacin AFAIK.

It's funny, except when the police flood urban areas with this stuff. EG: "Seattle Residents Got Tear Gassed in Their Own Apartments" [3]

A SF school added to that list is sad.

Sure though, we can make jokes whenever you cook that you prepared a weapon of war.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CS_gas

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_gas

[3] https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/06/04/43840246/seattle...

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