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Poison Gas Proliferation: Paradox, Politics, And Law, John Paul Jones

Law Faculty Publications

After the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War, Israeli civilians within the range of Iraqi SCUD missiles and allied troops in Operation Desert Storm braced themselves for a chemical weapons attack. Despite experts' assessments that Iraq possessed enough chemical weapons to mount a devastating attack, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's threats to use those weapons,3 the fighting ended without a chemical attack. President Bush's veto and the Iraqis' restraint represent just two of the many paradoxes surrounding the proliferation of the "poor man's atom-bomb." This Article analyzes a series of paradoxes emanating from President Bush's campaign against chemical weapons.

Part …