Every confirmed postwar chemical weapons attack occurred in the Middle East.
Evidence
The real threat to the peace of the region is not the American presence, but the possibility of an American loss of interest and withdrawal. It may be recalled that the only confirmed use of chemical weapons since World War II has been in the Middle East—by Nasser in Yemen in the Sixties, by Qaddafi in Chad in 1987, and by Saddam against Iran and against his own countrymen in 1988. At least 5,000 of the latter were killed. All these attacks were against local adversaries, incapable of retaliation. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1665
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- SHARE: A crisp data point for anyone tracking WMD history.
- SEED: Could anchor an essay on deterrence logic and chemical weapons proliferation in the region.