December 06, 2012
Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order
Jim Miklaszewski and M. Alex Johnson at NBC News:
The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.
The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said.
As recently as Tuesday, officials had said there was as yet no evidence that the process of mixing the "precursor" chemicals had begun. But Wednesday, they said their worst fears had been confirmed: The nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs.
Sarin is an extraordinarily lethal agent. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces killed 5,000 Kurds with a single sarin attack on Halabja in 1988.
U.S. officials stressed that as of now, the sarin bombs hadn't been loaded onto planes and that Assad hadn't issued a final order to use them. But if he does, one of the officials said, "there's little the outside world can do to stop it."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated U.S. warnings to Assad not to use chemical weapons, saying he would be crossing "a red line" if he did so.
More here.
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 07:30 AM | Permalink
Comments
"...U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday."
Oh, well it must be true then. Because the US government never lies.
Posted by: FrankZ | Dec 6, 2012 9:34:08 AM
The last 6 weeks in Syria have dramatically escalated with limited coverage because of Egypt and Israel/Palestine. It is easy to consign it to the second rung of news worthy articles despite the 30 thousand people who have died in little under two years, caught up in a conflict that could ignite the entire region. The FSA are making significant inroads on 2 fronts, Aleppo and now Damascus, with the hope of increasingly pressuring the latter to spill the former, and divide the state. Also, tellingly the regime has now conceded territory to the Kurds, likely because they have significant differences with Islamist opposition groups. The deployment of chem-weapons by the regime may fail to come to fruition, compared to a dictator scenario, because of the need to protect the Alawite minority if the regime fails. It is likely the Alawite minority would prefer a Balkanisation of Syria spreading into Lebanon rather than a uniform Sunni dominated state. This sectarian scenario now seems a likely outcome in Syria, and possibly further. The possibility of the conflict dragging in parts of Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Jordan is growing, and it is particularly interesting how the Kurds (who are allegedly occupied by Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey) choose to proceed in the ensuing mayhem. The sabre-rattling of a 'red-line' by the Obama admin is possibly because of the threat of chem-weapons falling into the hands of sub-state groups rather than a shot across the bow to the Assad regime. I wouldn't be surprised if Jabhat al-Nusra is proscribed a terror org by the Obama admin soon, as they seem to dominate large portions of the FSA and chem-weapons would be a no-no in the hands of such an organisation.
Posted by: Troy | Dec 6, 2012 10:28:37 AM
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171582/us-military-approves-bombing-children
If you've been reading Dreyfuss and more so Glenn Greenwald, you would realize the drone-bombing Obama Administration really doesn't have the credentials to serve as ultimate arbiter on terror.
Posted by: amspirnational | Dec 6, 2012 4:05:43 PM
Anyone interested in understanding what is ACTUALLY happening in Syria, as told by a consistently reliable source, should read this War Nerd article (and shhhhh. . .I wasn't really supposed to publish it, but I doubt he will mind):
http://nsfwcorp.co/14krob
Posted by: DrunktankDan | Dec 7, 2012 6:20:44 AM
Cheers Dan but different pundit same story...sectarianism (in a 90% ethnically Arab country). Although, the Kurds may take their opportunities and lead to some measure of ethno violence.. After the Balkans, if any place on earth was going to turn the primordialist reasoning for ethno-national violence on its head, it will be the ME.
Posted by: Troy | Dec 8, 2012 5:28:36 AM
Troy? So confused buddy. Sorry, I don't really know all that of what's going on.
I trust Mr. Brecher on most war matters, though, as he doesn't have much of political agenda. He admits he 'just wants America to kick ass' but then he'll root for Hezbollah a few sentences later.
And damned if he didn't call the Iraq war play by play, always ahead of the mainstream pundits (if they told the truth at all, which was rare). It must be liberating to not be tied to any specific ideology, and to respect only marshal glory.
At least it's consistent, even if I sure as hell don't agree with it. War is for A-holes. Always has been.
Posted by: DrunktankDan | Dec 9, 2012 1:45:25 AM
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