Friday, January 11, 2008, 10:49am
Suddenly, on that May day in 2005, the copter dropped CS gas, a riot-control substance the American military in Iraq can use only under the strictest conditions and with the approval of top military commanders. An armored vehicle on the ground also released the gas, temporarily blinding drivers, passers-by and at least 10 American soldiers operating the checkpoint.
"This was decidedly uncool and very, very dangerous," Capt. Kincy Clark of the Army, the senior officer at the scene, wrote later that day. "It's not a good thing to cause soldiers who are standing guard against car bombs, snipers and suicide bombers to cover their faces, choke, cough and otherwise degrade our awareness."
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Blackwater says it was released by mistake, but even if that's true it is irrelevant. If even the US military can't use it without approval from the highest levels of government, Blackwater sure as hell can't be carrying it around to use whenever they feel like it. Oh, and here is your moment of irony: Saddam Hussein used CS gas against the Kurds.