Nation-state efforts to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, or their underlying technologies constitute a major threat to the security of the United States, its deployed troops, and allies. Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria by both state and non-state actors demonstrates that the threat of WMD is real. Chemical materials and technologies, almost always dual use, move easily in the globalized economy, as do personnel with the scientific expertise to design and use them.
Syria has not declared all the elements of its chemical weapons program to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Despite the creation of a specialized team and months of work by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to address gaps and inconsistencies in Syria's declaration, numerous issues remain unresolved. The Syrian regime has used chemicals as a means of warfare since accession to the CWC in 2013. The OPCW Fact-Finding Mission has concluded that chlorine has been used on Syrian opposition forces in multiple incidents since 2014. Helicopters - which only the Syrian regime possesses - were used in several of these attacks.
Non-state actors in the region are also using chemicals as a means of warfare. The OPCW investigation into an alleged ISIS attack in Syria in August 2015 led it to conclude that at least two people were exposed to sulfur mustard. There continue to be numerous allegations of ISIS's use of chemicals in attacks in Iraq and Syria.