From Göran: "I completely agree with your description of both sides of the Syrian civil
war as liers and killers. But I stumbled on this description of the effects of
Fuel-Air explosives (or thermobaric bombs) in a report by Human Rights Watch
(2000). As I understand Syria has such weapons and has used them before in the
civil war. The problem with FAE is that everyone uses them and that they are
therefore considered "legal".
According
to a 1993 study by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency: The [blast]
kill mechanism against living targets is unique--and unpleasant.... What kills
is the pressure wave, and more importantly, the subsequent rarefaction [vacuum],
which ruptures the lungs.... If the fuel
deflagrates but does not detonate, victims will be severely burned and will
probably also inhale the burning fuel. Since the most common FAE fuels, ethylene
oxide and propylene oxide, are highly
toxic, undetonated FAE
should prove as lethal to
personnel caught within the cloud as most chemical agents.(8)
According
to a separate U.S. Central Intelligence Agency study, "the effect of an FAE
explosion within confined spaces is immense. Those near the ignition point are
obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to
suffer many internal, and thus invisible injuries, including burst
eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and
internal organs, and possibly blindness.""
