ISIS using Mustard Gas against the Kurds; Would this be an Obama Red Line?

U.S. officials and other allies confirmed Thursday the terrorist army of ISIS began using mustard gas this week in attacks against Kurdish fighters in Iraq.

The attack, first reported by German Defense Ministry officials, came Wednesday near Erbil in northern Iraq. The gas was likely delivered by rockets.

LINK: Burns on Peshmerga wounded earlier this week 
are consistent with mustard gas.

But the use of chemical agents elevates the capability of ISIS forces and creates new potential threats for forces combating ISIS without training in countering chemicals' use. It also creates a potential new issue for the American presidential competitions.

A happy ISIS fighter. (AP)

Hillary Clinton, former secretary of State and now a Democrat candidate, once called chemical weapon use "a red line for the world."

Use of the sulfurous gas, which causes blindness, breathing difficulty and searing skin blisters, is not only a violation of international law, one of many things ISIS disdains. But it also crosses the controversial red line drawn by President Obama three years ago this month on the use of chemical weapons in the Mideast.

"We have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region that that's a red line for us and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons. That would change my calculations significantly" about U.S. military involvement, the president said in a special news briefing.

In an April 2013 letter to senators, the White House appeared to expand the red line warning (our italics): "The president has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons — or transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups — is a red line for the United States of America."

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