'Rules of Engagement' OK Tear Gas in Iraq

Wikileaks has a document up, stamped secret, that claims to be a two-year old set of US rules of engagement in Iraq.  The big papers are all over it, because it appears to authorize raids into Syria and Iran.  I’m intrigued by section 3.C.(3) Riot Control Measures, which includes the use of riot control agents — tear gas, and the like.

It says that riot control agents can be used:

(i) To protect US and/or designated personnel and facilities from civil disturbance; (ii) During personnel recovery (PR) operations; (iii) To control rioting prisoners or detainees; (iv) During maritime operations involving civilians.

The head of U.S. Central Command "may request additional authorities from SECDEF (Secretary of Defense) as required."

The use of these agents has been a very touchy topic; folks got extremely hot and bothered when Donald Rumsfeld advocated their battlefield use, on the eve on the Iraq war.  Things got even more heated, when it came out that Blackwater dropped tear gas grenades in ’05.

I have no idea if this document is "real deal" or not, and I cannot verify or discount its authenticity.  It’s an interesting discussion of non-lethal force options, to be sure. But, looking at the information, they massively over-classified this section. None of this particular section has information to which one would believe to cause " serious damage to national security."  The "classified" definition on page 15 of the document is the same as the unclassified definition in Joint Publication 1-02, DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms:

Any chemical, that is not listed in the Chemical Weapons Convention, which can produce rapidly in humans sensory irritate or disabling physical effects which disappear within a short time following termination of exposure.

This is a particularly bad definition, since there are lots of nasty chemicals not listed in the CWC schedules that can cause "sensory irritation" or "disabling effects" that disappear in a short time, and they aren’t necessarily riot control agents. It leaves the opening for other chemicals being "authorized" for use as RCAs that probably ought not to be considered. 

Oh, and don’t miss the list of "time-sensitive targets" that includes "suspected/known WMD munitions" and "mobile WMD labs"… what maroons… but then again, this was dated 2005 when the Bush administration was still claiming that the two hydrogen generator trailers were mobile WMD labs.