• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

  • Policy Issues
    • Fact Sheets
    • Countries
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Non-Proliferation
    • Nuclear Security
    • Biological & Chemical Weapons
    • Defense Spending
    • Missile Defense
    • No First Use
  • Nukes of Hazard
    • Podcast
    • Blog
      • Next Up In Arms Control
    • Videos
  • Join Us
  • Press
  • About
    • Staff
    • Boards & Experts
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Financials and Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Search
You are here: Home / Press Room / Center in the News / US News Cites Kingston Reif on the Islamic State’s Potential Use of Chemical Weapons

September 16, 2014

US News Cites Kingston Reif on the Islamic State’s Potential Use of Chemical Weapons

By Paul D. Shinkman

September 16, 2014

Kingston Reif, a director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation advocacy group, says it is unsurprising the Islamic State would be interested in an unconventional tool for inflicting terror.

He also cautions against any assumptions that Syria now has a “clean bill of health” with regard to chemical weapons, given the discrepancies in the destruction of Assad’s declared chemical stockpiles and his “propensity to lie.”

The actual effectiveness of these kinds of attacks, however, remains unclear.

Connable points to the extreme difficulty in transporting and deploying chemical weapons. To be effective, such strikes require advanced training and launching equipment, creating a high risk for those handling them. When used it a battlefield context, a chemical attack also requires favorable wind and weather conditions.

“I’m not terrifically concerned about it,” he says, “except for the use in terror attacks.”

The Islamic State has already demonstrated its ability to use advanced armaments, and Reif worries about the dangerous combination of adding deadly chemicals to an improvised version of these weapons. He adds, however, that the international effort to rid Syria of its chemical weapons has greatly reduced that threat.

“Whatever they might have left is likely to be pretty small relative to their overall stockpile,” he says.

The significant chance of fatal error in an improvised chemical attack could chip away at one of the Islamic State’s most potent tools: its ability to win and hold public support.

Read the article on USNews.com

Posted in: Center in the News, Press Room

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Strengthening Biosecurity Efforts Without the Federal Government June 18, 2025
  • لماذا وسّعت إسرائيل أهدافها إلى منشآت الطاقة الإيرانية؟ June 15, 2025
  • Report: Global Nuclear Weapons Spending Surpassed $100 Billion Last Year June 13, 2025
  • Обстрелы Израиля и месть Ирана ][ Протесты в Калифорнии — только начало? June 13, 2025
  • Fact Sheet: The Arms Trade Treaty June 9, 2025

Footer

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

820 1st Street NE, Suite LL-180
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone: 202.546.0795

Issues

  • Fact Sheets
  • Countries
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Non-Proliferation
  • Nuclear Security
  • Defense Spending
  • Biological and Chemical Weapons
  • Missile Defense
  • No First Use

Countries

  • China
  • France
  • India and Pakistan
  • Iran
  • Israel
  • North Korea
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom

Explore

  • Nukes of Hazard blog
  • Nukes of Hazard podcast
  • Nukes of Hazard videos
  • Front and Center
  • Fact Sheets

About

  • About
  • Meet the Staff
  • Boards & Experts
  • Press
  • Jobs & Internships
  • Financials and Annual Reports
  • Contact Us
  • Council for a Livable World
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

© 2025 Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Privacy Policy

Charity Navigator GuideStar Seal of Transparency