Egypt's government receives major financial support from the United States government..

The tear gas being employed by the Egyptian military and police in the past 72 hours, beyond being expired for at least five years, according to canisters obtained by many sources, cause severe pulmonary damage, as well as causing damage to the heart and liver. It is also reported to increase the risk of miscarriages, according to international studies of the substance, known as CS gas. A lethal does can be inhaled within minutes if in a poorly ventilated area.

According to the United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, CS emits “very toxic fumes” when heated to decomposition, and at specified concentrations CS gas is an immediate danger to life and health. The report also stated that those exposed to CR gas should “seek medical attention immediately.”

In large doses, human tissues have also revealed that cyanide levels in the body are discovered. It can also “melt” one’s skin if sweat on the body comes into contact with the substance.

The Egyptian security forces have been indiscriminantely using US-manufactuured tear gas containing the substance CS, exposing them to extremely high levels over the past three four days, resulting in severe pulmonary damage, and in many cases lethal axphyxiation. Many are calling the use of the gas a “crime against humanity.” 

Use of CS in war is prohibited under the terms of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, signed by most nations in 1993 with all but five other nations signing between the years of 1994 through 1997. The reasoning behind the prohibition is pragmatic: use of CS by one combatant could easily trigger retaliation with much more toxic chemical weapons such as nerve agents. Only five nations have not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention and are therefore unhindered by restrictions on the use of CS gas: Angola, Egypt, North Korea, Somalia, and Syria.

US diplomatic channels should strongly express disapproval of Egypt's blatant disregard for international conventions, place more stringent conditions on the millions of US tax dollars in economic and military assistance to a so-called 'friendly' government that continues to use chemical warfare on its civilian population.