The San Francisco Chronicle reports that vials of a toxic substance, suspected to be crystallized mustard gas, were found in San Francisco's Presidio this week. The vials are believed to be stray discards from US Army training exercises more than 30 years ago.
In an interesting display of moral equivalence, the Chronicle goes on to give examples of mustard gas use in warfare
The gas was also reportedly used in the Italian-Ethiopian conflict of 1936, the Sino-Japanese conflict during WWII, and in the mid-1980s during the war between Iraq and Iran.I think I would have described some of these conflicts with a slightly stronger emphasis on the party that actually used the poison gas. For example:
Italy used the gas in its conquest of Ethiopia in 1935-36, Japan used the gas in its subjugation of China in the 1930s and 40s, and Iraq used the gas in its attack on Iran in the 1980sI think I also would have noted that Egypt used mustard gas against Yemeni civilians in the 1960s.
But it's refreshing to see, at least, that the Chronicle plays the game of moral equivalence in other situations, not just when it criticizes, say, Israel and the United States for standing up to aggression.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 23, 2002 03:26 PMAnd I guess their history texts don't go back as far as The Great War, WWI, where mustard gas was used for the first time, and where it killed and wounded a hundred-fold more than all subsequent uses combined.
Some of the figures from that war are quite staggering. In the Battle of the Somme, Britain lost 57,470 men in one day, more than the total US losses during all of Viet Nam.
Ummm... yes, Britain DID lose more men in one day in that batle than the US did in the whole war... but it's a bit misleading to link that to mustard gas.
During the entire war, Britain had 16,000 casualties due to mustard gas, and 4,000 of those were fatal.
Posted by: Ellie on April 13, 2004 03:57 PM