The U.S. government has a notable detail in their new sanctions press release.

The Department of State is concurrently delivering to Congress a determination pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) regarding Russia’s use of the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

Germany is said to have been the first to use the “pesticide” chloropicrin (tear gas) in WWI on the battlefield, despite being outlawed in the the 1899 Hague Convention. The gas was denoted by a blue cross on artillery warheads.

[It is the] particular horror of gas that is captured in Wilfred Owen’s poem Dulce et Decorum Est, arguably the most widely read description of the horrors of war in the English language.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

The Soviet Union then was known to use cloropicrin in 1989 to control crowds in Georgia, so that soldiers could rush in and hack people to death with shovels.

Working with Georgian scientists, the delegation has identified that agent to be chloropicrin… Twenty persons died and 4,000 sought hospital treatment when Soviet troops, using gases and wielding shovels, broke up an all-night demonstration by 8,000 to 10,000 Georgians… the majority of the deaths were due to the use of “sharpened shovels” by the troops who charged into the demonstration “hacking people to death”…

Shovels? Did someone say Soviet anti-democratic shock troops swung bladed shovels as a psychological and physical weapon in the past? Fast forward to Russian leadership today:

Russian Soldiers Are Attacking Ukrainians With Shovels… “The lethality of the standard-issue MPL-50 entrenching tool is particularly mythologised in Russia,” the U.K. MoD said. Indeed, the MPL-50 has become an iconic weapon of the Spetsnaz, Russia’s special operations forces. In his 1987 book about the origins of Spetsnaz, former Soviet intelligence agent Viktor Suvorov begins by explaining how the soldiers made the shovel into a deadly weapon.

It begs the question how toxic is the tear gas itself, used to illegally immobilize military targets, relative to the bladed-shovel attack that follows like a WWI trench charge.

In humans, a concentration of 2.4 g/m³ can cause death from acute pulmonary oedema in one minute (Hanslian, 1921). concentration us low as I ppm of Chloropicrin in air produces an intense smarting pain in the eyes, and the immediate reaction of any person is to leave the vicinity in haste. If exposure is continued, it may cause serious lung injury. […] As stated above, because of the tear gas effect, a person would be unable to remain in a dangerous concentration of chloropicrin for more than a few seconds. Great care should be taken to prevent unauthorized persons from approaching a fumigation site because the tear gas effect is so powerful that they may become temporarily blinded and panic-stricken, which, in turn, may lead to accidents.

Related:

• 1993 Russian-backed Chemical Weapons Convention outlawed use of tear gas “as a method of warfare”
• 2022 September 23, Russian K-51 grenades with chlorine dropped on Ukraine
• 2022 October 12, Russian K-51 grenade with CS tear gas dropped on Ukraine
• 2023 December 22, Russia drops “K-51 aerosol grenades filled with irritant CS gas (2-Chlorobenzalmalononitrile)”. (Also observed in November and “new type of special RG-VO gas grenades containing an unknown chemical substance was used by the Russians on Dec. 14″)
• 2024 March 11, Russia attacks 50 times a week with tear gas grenades dropped by UAVs

No, I’m not talking about cat-a-wampus.

…a noun from 1843, as a name for an imaginary hobgoblin or fright, perhaps from influence of catamount… 1660s as a shortening of cat-o’-mountain (1610s), from cat of the mountain (mid-15c.), a name aplied to various large wild cats of the Old World. From 1794 in reference to the lynx, puma, or cougar of the United States and Canada.

And regardless of 1917 dialect notes trying to confuse things even further, I’m talking about the legend of the Wampus Cat, allegedly from the Cherokee Nation.

Cherokee culture is rich and diverse, and interpretations of their legends may vary among different individuals and communities within the Cherokee Nation.

Among the Cherokee people, one finds striking examples of the high status afforded to women in their society. The legend of Running Deer illustrates the strength, courage and vital roles Cherokee women embodied.

Let me begin by clarifying that Running Deer should not be confused with the spiritual figure Nunnehi, or Deer Woman. Some have mistakenly conflated names and legends in America, perhaps due to oversimplified depictions in mid-20th century popular culture. We must be careful not to allow such misconceptions to proliferate.

The story tells of how the malicious spirit Ew’ah, embodying madness and despair, threatened the well being of the Cherokee community. Running Deer arose as the champion to confront this dark force, driven by her desire to protect her people, including her husband who had fallen under Ew’ah’s torment. Her quest transcended mere vengeance – it highlighted the equal standing of Cherokee women as leaders, hunters and guardians alongside men.

Descending from a lineage of powerful female spirit-talkers, Running Deer harnessed not just physical fortitude, but the ancestral wisdom and fierceness symbolized by the mountain cat. She crafted a panther mask, invoking that wild spirit energy as she purposefully entered Ew’ah’s dark realm. In an epic battle echoing through the ancient forests, Running Deer’s cunning and bravery overcame the spirit’s maddening influence, until Ew’ah was vanquished by his own unhinged rage.

Through this heroic victory, Running Deer exemplified the steadfast spirit embodied by Cherokee women. As both spirit-talker and protector of the home, her essence became eternally intertwined with the legendary Wampus cat – a prowling guardian fending off threats to Cherokee lands. Her transformation into this symbolic form represented an integration of her civilized and primal aspects required to face such daunting challenges.

For the Cherokee, this legend celebrates the multifaceted strengths and wisdom that women contributed to the tribe’s survival – nurturing life forces as vital as successful hunting. Her tale has been passed down over generations as a source of empowerment and balance between the civilized and the untamed.

As historians, we must appreciate how such narratives, when interpreted through a systemic perspective, reveal profound truths about a culture’s values and societal organization. The Wampus cat illuminates the revered position of Cherokee women as respected equals to men in both spiritual and physical realms.

It serves as a powerful symbolic model for gender equality.