Tag: Chemical Weapons

Good News From The World Of War

My regular readers know that I have no use for war for the sake of going to war…..so when there is good news about this act of human insanity I shall write about it…..and today is one of those days.

Last Friday some good news about WMD….chemical weapons ….to be exact…..the US has finally destroyed their last cache of these barbaric weapons…..or so we are lead to believe.

The US has long stored a considerable arsenal of illegal-to-use chemical weaponry—until now. On Friday, the Pentagon destroyed its last remaining such weapon, the culmination of a decades-long effort, reports NPR. The dismantling took place at the Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado and at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky, per the AP. The outlet notes that the American military’s chemical stockpile was up to 30,000 tons when the Cold War ended in 1991. The historic milestone now in place: All of the world’s publicly declared chemical weapons—laden with everything from mustard gas to sarin—are now eliminated.

The US technically had until the end of September to complete the task of destroying the weapons in compliance with the 26-year-old Chemical Weapons Convention. It was the last of eight countries to eliminate its declared stockpile. “This is the first time, globally, that an entire class of weapons of mass destruction” has been destroyed, said Vietnam War veteran Craig Williams, who has been advocating for the safe destruction of the chemical arsenal since 1984, per the Lexington Times. Of course, the destruction covers only the declared chemical weapons in the world—other nations, including Russia, Syria, and North Korea, are believed to have undeclared stashes.

The caveat is ‘declared’ weapons….god only knows how many are still in some secret depository some where.

Have you ever noticed the bad news seems to always follow good news?

And now for the bad….

As good as this news is there is also some disturbing news….the US is sending cluster bombs to Ukraine…..Cluster bombs have killed more civilians in the last 20 years than has those chemical weapons….so let’s send them to another war.

The Biden administration is on the defense after announcing it will send controversial cluster bombs to Ukraine to help in that nation’s counteroffensive against Russia. On Friday, President Biden conceded to Fareed Zakaria on CNN that it was a “very difficult decision” to approve the transfer of cluster munitions, and that “it took me a while to be convinced to do it.” The commander in chief noted that he conferred with both “our friends up on the Hill” and ally nations, but that ultimately, what swayed him was realizing that “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.”

National security adviser Jake Sullivan concurred with Biden on the careful deliberations over the cluster bombs, noting that the White House spent “quite some time” mulling the move before making its decision, per the Washington Post. Biden told Zakaria that, on the recommendation of the Pentagon, the cluster bombs were only a “temporary” fix to help Ukraine during a “transition period” while the US produces more of the 155mm artillery it has been sending to Ukraine. The BBC notes cluster bombs, which can take out multiple military targets at once, are controversial partly due to their “dud” rate, referring to bombs that don’t immediately detonate and remain on the ground—posing a danger to civilians, potentially for years.

Sullivan said that the cluster bombs being sent to Ukraine have been tested to make sure the dud rate isn’t above 2.35%, and that Ukraine has assured the US “they intend to use these munitions in a way to minimize the exposure of civilians,” per the Post. Still, most NATO member nations (the US isn’t among them) have signed an international convention barring production, use, or transfer of cluster munitions. “No to cluster bombs and yes to the legitimate defense of Ukraine,” Margarita Robles, Spain’s defense minister, said Friday, per the BBC. Even the US has a ban on using cluster bombs with a dud rate of more than 1% rate—a ban Biden bypassed Friday by invoking the Foreign Assistance Act.

A tough decision?

But the best excuse for the use of a banned weapon…..

Speaking to CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria on Friday, President Biden said he needed to send cluster bombs because Ukraine and the US are running out of ammunition. “This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it,” he said. “And so, what I finally did, I took the recommendation of the Defense Department to — not permanently — but to allow for this transition period, while we get more 155 weapons, these shells, for the Ukrainians.”

Interesting….

Why?  I am so glad you asked.

On February 28, 2022, then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who now has her own TV show on MSNBC, told reporters that Russia’s use of cluster munitions in Ukraine would “potentially be a war crime.”

So is it a ‘war crime’ or not?

Here is a novel idea…..since we are sending billions of stuff to Ukraine to save a few dollars why not recall all the military crap given to law enforcement agencies box it up and mail it to Ukraine…..with a note that says “Make Do”

Sorry I digress and now back on subject.

With a re-election fight on the horizon I feel sure that some cash came in a plain brown envelope to help with the decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine.

These bombs need to be next on the banning list for the US….most civilized countries have banned their use….but so far the US is not on that list.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Chemical Weapons In The Wings

The year is 2013 and reports of a Syrian chemical attack starts leaking into the mainstream media….and this was a red line that Obama and his gang drew in the sand….

The reports were unverified and yet it was reported as if it were fact and the US started its involvement in the Syrian civil war…..

The mainstream media narrative claimed the Syrian government under president Bashar al Assad bombed the rebel-held town of Khan Seikhoun with the deadly nerve agent sarin on April 4. Assad “choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children,” claimed President Trump. The U.S. Tomahawk strike targeted Shayrat because that is where the chemical weapons were prepared and loaded onto fighter bomber aircraft. According to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, “We feel that the strike itself was proportional, because it was targeted at the facility that delivered this most recent chemical weapons attack.”

US mainstream news media uncritically trumpeted the administration’s pretext as fact and that the retaliation was widely supported by the American people. A CBS News survey claimed “57 percent of Americans” approved of Trump’s military strikes. The question ABC presented to respondents (the question is not found within the body of news articles) April 7-9 presumed guilt. “In response to the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons, do you approve or disapprove of the US launching airstrikes against Syrian military targets?”

(antiwar.com)

Fast forward to 2022 and we have the same tactic used again.

White House claimed without evidence that Russia might use chemical or biological weapons to create a false flag operation in Ukraine. The White House also dismissed Moscow’s accusations that the US is involved in biological weapons research in Ukraine even though there are Pentagon-linked labs in the country.

On Twitter, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said to be on the lookout “for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them.”

Then the inevitable accusation once the idea had been planted….

Both US and Ukrainian officials have said they cannot confirm claims from Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion that Russia dropped a “poisonous substance” on Mariupol.

Andriy Biletsky, the leader of the Azov Battalion, which is part of Ukraine’s National Guard, claimed three people had signs of chemical poisoning, although he said there were no “disastrous consequences” to their health.

According to Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early Wednesday that it was not possible to draw “100% firm conclusions” about whether or not Russia used chemical weapons. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was not in a position to confirm the claims.

According to a report from Politico, US officials have raised questions about the credibility of the Azov battalion, noting that they might be eager to provoke a larger confrontation. The claims from Azov came after weeks of Biden administration officials accusing Russia of plotting to use chemical weapons in its war in Ukraine and warning of a response if they are used.

(antiwar.com)

Does any of this sound familiar?

Well it does to me….but then I pay attention to world affairs.

My problem, as with the previous accusations, is that these are unverified but that does not stop the media from helping whip up the lather to get more involved in the conflict.

Remember the non-existent WMDs in Iraq to justify an invasion and subsequent occupation?

Usually when the western governments start quacking about “chemical attacks,” it means they’re planning to take action of some kind — airstrikes in Syria, sanctions on Russia, what have you — and are looking for an excuse.

This doesn’t look like an exception to that rule: Further down in the story, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar identifies the likely weapon as “phosphorous ammunition.”

That would most likely be white phosphorous, an element not classed as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention. It’s used as a component in smoke, illumination, incendiary, and tracer rounds for everything from small arms to large artillery, as well as in grenades, by most major militaries on Earth.

In theory, it’s illegal to use white phosphorous to attack “personnel,” but acceptable to use it on “equipment.”

That’s a pretty big loophole. As an 81mm mortarman in the US Marine Corps, I often trained on what we called “shake and bake” missions, involving a mix of white phosphorous and high explosive rounds. The justification? We would be firing at the enemy’s “equipment.” That would include their uniforms, canteens, etc. If they chose to stay with that “equipment,” well, that was their problem.

If the weapon in question is indeed white phosphorous, calling the incident a “chemical” attack is neither legally accurate nor novel. It’s nasty stuff — it burns incredibly hot and water won’t put it out — but it’s been in wide use since World War One. Including, probably, by both sides in the Ukrainian conflict.

Chemical Weapons, Here, There, Everywhere

All this makes me think of those immortal words of Donald Rumsfeld, “If it were true it would not be called intelligence”.

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“lego ergo scribo”

Those Chemical Weapons

Here we go again.

Think back to the beginning of the Syrian civil war…..the red line for US involvement was if someone used chemical weapons…..and BAM! The worse became reality and the rest is history.

Once again the US and its client states are once again finding a red line for US involvement…..those damn chemical weapons again.

I see a Cheney is on the front-lines of the rhetoric (like her daddy)….

Congresswoman Liz Cheney said the US should take action in Ukraine in the event Russia uses chemical weapons, echoing a recent threat by Washington’s UN envoy, who warned that America will “respond aggressively” if such weapons are deployed. 

Asked whether a “red line” should be established for intervention in Ukraine during an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday, Rep. Cheney (R-Wyoming) said chemical weapons would “alter our calculations” and potentially prompt a US and allied response.

“We in the West, the United States and NATO, we need to stop telling the Russians what we won’t do. We need to be very clear that we are considering all options,” she said, adding that “they [Russia] need to understand that if the brutality here increases, the United States will contemplate and consider every possible range of actions along with our NATO allies.”

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news-roundup/rep-cheney-suggests-chemical-weapons-red-line-in-ukraine-as-calls-for-us-intervention-grow-louder/

The EU people as well as NATO are claiming the same thing….

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that any use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine would be considered a “blatant and brutal violation of international law.” 

“So any use of chemical weapons would be a blatant and brutal violation of international law, the ban on the use of chemical weapons,” Stoltenberg told moderator Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “At the same time we know that Russia has used chemical agents in Europe before, against their own political opponents and Russia has been facilitating and supporting the Assad regime in Syria, where chemical weapons has been used.” 

“[W]e are very much aware of that we need to act in a way that prevents this conflict from going from being a very bloody, ugly, horrific conflict in Ukraine to something that turns out to be a full fledged war between NATO and Russia, in Europe, and also potentially involving, of course, the United States directly,” Stoltenberg added.

(thehill.com)

Biden is on-board with the messaging…..

President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin may consider using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine as his military struggled to achieve clear objectives.

…

“His back is against the wall,” Biden said. “That’s a clear sign he’s considering using both of those.”

He added: “He’s already used chemical weapons in the past, and we should we careful of what’s about to come.”

(businessinsider.com)

Now the stage is set….and that red-line drawn…..and wait begins…..

But there is one slight problem with all this messaging….especially from the media which is making it a priority to report on chem. weapons….

The United States has not yet seen any concrete indications of an imminent Russian chemical or biological weapons attack in Ukraine but is closely monitoring streams of intelligence for them, a senior U.S. defense official said.

President Joe Biden said on Monday, without providing evidence, that Russia’s false accusations that Kyiv has biological and chemical weapons illustrated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering using them himself in the war against Ukraine.

The U.S. official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, shared Biden’s assessment but added: “There’s no indication that there’s something imminent in that regard right now.”

(usnews.com)

Not to worry…..MSNBC’s Chuck Todd will do his part to promote another war…..

On Meet the Press, Todd repeatedly asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg whether chemical weapons might change the Western calculus on intervention in Ukraine. Todd: “Is a No-fly Zone forever off the table or would the use of chemical weapons make NATO rethink.” And two minutes later, “Russia’s use of chemical weapons, would that be considered, though, an escalation on his [presumably Putin’s] part that would make NATO rethink?”

It may be hard to believe that Stoltenberg was unprepared to give some some sort of answer to this obvious question, but he is only good at regurgitating what he has memorized. Yesterday, in the absence of instructions from Washington, he appeared nonplused and gave a non-response. To which Todd replied condescendingly, “It does sound as though you don’t have an answer yet.”

Is Chuck Todd a Chemical Agent?

I am so glad that the media will do its part to try and get the US ass deep in another war.

Just recently Biden responded to a question about the use of chem weapons by Russia.

For weeks now, US officials have claimed without evidence that Russia could use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, and President Biden is now warning that NATO will “respond” if there is a Russian chemical weapons attack.

“We would respond. We would respond if he uses it. The nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use,” Biden said at a press conference from NATO headquarters in Brussels.

When asked if that meant NATO would respond with military force, Biden said it would “trigger a response in kind, whether or not — you’re asking whether NATO would cross; we’d make that decision at the time.”

While the US has been warning of potential Russian chemical attacks, an anonymous Pentagon official said Tuesday that there’s no sign Moscow is planning to use the weapons. “There’s no indication that there’s something imminent in that regard right now,” the official said.

(antiwar.com)

The US started accusing Russia of plotting to use chemical or biological weapons when Russia’s claims about Pentagon-linked biological labs in Ukraine became a major news story. While the Biden administration is downplaying the labs as much as it can, there are biological labs in Ukraine funded by the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

Please look beyond the popular rhetoric of the media and find the true nature of these claims.

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I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Other Whistleblower

There has been a wealth of press given about those whistleblowers that keep coming forward in the impeachment saga..

All that makes for good copy for the MSM…I mean it helps drive the story they want to tell and any thing else will be put into the round file (file 13)……

Like the drama that the media wants to tell about the Assad government using CWs on their own people….and the horror and the desire for retaliation for justice for the Syrian people.

I have written and reported in the past on the different reports that contradict the “official” BS claim by the media and the US government…..and a new whistleblower has come forward that disputes the fantasy of the official line from DC…..

During a recent BBC radio interview, award-winning journalist Jonathan Steele said that he attended a briefing by a new whistleblower from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) investigation into an alleged 2018 chemical attack in Douma, Syria, who claimed that the OPCW suppressed his findings which contradicted the organization’s official conclusion that a chlorine gas attack had taken place. This, according to Steele, is a second whistleblower coming forward on the OPCW’s Douma investigation, the first being the leaker of an Engineering Assessment document which surfaced in May contradicting the OPCW’s official ballistics report which the organization hid from the public.

I have archived an audio recording of Steele’s statement here for posterity, since the BBC removes its content after a month. I have also compiled a timeline of relevant events here so that people can properly appreciate the significance of these new revelations.

Steele made these comments unbidden by the show’s host Paul Henley. They read as follows (thanks to Tim Hayward of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media for the transcript):

Second Whistleblower Emerges from Investigation into Douma Chemical Attack

Typical US strategy…..use the MSM to sell chicken shit as sirloin to the masses….

I wrote about the possibility that past attacks were staged and not the result of an attack by Syrian military…..https://lobotero.com/2019/05/29/those-chemical-attacks/

AS usual the MSM is the tool of choice for the government to condition the American people to accept the ‘official’ story line.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Those Chemical Attacks

Everything that has happened in Syria in the last decade is the rest of those dastardly chemical attacks….the US build up and the US attacks to punish this dastardly affront to civilization….the attacks of which I wrote in 2018……https://lobotero.com/2018/05/02/syria-saga-continues/

Now a MIT rocket scientist writes about those attacks….

 “The evidence is overwhelming that the gas attacks were staged,” Award-winning scientist and MIT professor emeritus Theodore Postol told The Grayzone’s Aaron Maté in a newly published interview.

The interview with the noted MIT rocket scientist comes after Fox’s Tucker Carlson featured rare mainstream coverage of the bombshell leaked OPCW report on his show Thursday night.

The “smoking gun” memo refutes key events surrounding the April 2018 alleged chemical gas attack in Douma, Syria – which resulted at the time in massive US and allied airstrikes on Damascus, including the launch of over one hundred Tomahawk cruise missiles.

As we summarized previously of the leaked chemical weapons engineer report from the world’s chief international chemical weapons watchdog group:

The document, whose authenticity the OPCW has confirmed, contends that the official story which was used to justify an air strike by the US, UK and France about poison gas being dropped on civilians from Syrian government helicopters is scientifically implausible, saying “In summary, observations at the scene of the two locations, together with subsequent analysis, suggest that there is a higher probability that both cylinders were manually placed at those two locations rather than being delivered from aircraft.” 

Watch the interview below:

MIT Rocket Scientist: Leaked Document Shows Syrian Chemical Attacks Were Staged

I bring up this history because they are at it again……this from 23May19……https://consortiumnews.com/2019/05/22/us-accuses-syria-of-more-chemical-attacks-just-as-chemical-weapons-narrative-crumbles/

Most people are not aware of just how involved the MSM is in the selling of military action……it is the best propaganda tool the government has at its disposal.

The MSM is not a neutral purveyor of the news of the day……it is nothing more than propaganda on a daily basis to condition the American public to accept whatever issue the government feels is important.

So you want example…..okay…Israel!  Military involvement! Pick an issue…any issue…..if it is a major story of the day then it is spun to get the reaction that is wanted……and the American people walk along as if in a trance and accept whatever they, MSM, is spinning.

Syria Saga Continues

Before I go any further I need to make it clear that if there is undeniable evidence that Syria used CWs on a civilian population then it should have been punished….my problem is that the US and its lap dog allies rushed to judgment without that proof of which I speak….

The NATO goons attacked without positive proof and now they let inspectors into the region to determine whether these weapons were used or not….(a little late)……

In the 1980’s, Scott Ritter was a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, specializing in intelligence. In 1987, Ritter was assigned to the On-Site Inspection Agency, which was put together to go into the Soviet Union and oversee the implementation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty. This was the first time that on-site inspection had been used as part of a disarmament verification process.

Ritter was one of the groundbreakers in developing on-site inspection techniques and methodologies. With this unique experience behind him, Ritter was asked in 1991, at the end of the Gulf War, to join the United Nations Special Commission, which was tasked by the Security Council to oversee the disarmament of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. From 1991 to 1998, Ritter served as a chief weapons inspector and led a number of teams into Iraq.

According to Ritter, in the following Flashpoints Radio interview with Dennis Bernstein conducted on April 23rd, US, British and French claims that the Syrian Government used chemical weapons against civilians last month appear to be totally bogus.

http://theantimedia.com/scott-ritter-syrian-gas-attack/

There have been others that have given reason why the Syrian government may not have been behind the attacks…..but so far the Western media will go with the “official” story of the culprit to the attack……

The response from the US, UK and France to a briefing on Thursday at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague was perverse, to say the least. Russia had brought 17 witnesses from Douma who stated that there had been no chemical weapons attack there earlier this month – the pretext for an illegal air strike on Syria by the three western states.

The witnesses, a mix of victims and the doctors who treated them, told accounts that confirmed a report provided last week from Douma by British reporter Robert Fisk – a report, it should be noted, that has been almost entirely blanked by the western media. According to the testimony provided at the OPCW, the victims shown in a video from the site of the alleged attack were actually suffering from the effects of inhaling dust after a bombing raid, not gas.

https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2018-04-28/the-west-closes-its-ears-to-douma-testimony/

What will happen if there is proof that the Syrians were not behind this attack?  Will there be a “oops my bad”?  Better yet will we, as Americans, ever know the truth about this attack?

Syria And The Question Not Asked

Now that the US and NATO has boldly gone where others feared to go…..then there are a few questions that need to be asked….

1. Why couldn’t the military wait for inspectors to do their jobs?

2. How do we know we’re being told the truth?

3.Have strikes like these ever really “punished” a country’s leader – or “sent them a message,” for that matter?

4. Why isn’t the full range of U.S. activity in Syria getting more coverage?

5. Where are the advocates for a smarter national security policy?

6. How can a country uphold international norms by violating international law?

7. Did the airstrikes make Trump “presidential”?

The answers can be found here…..

http://theantimedia.com/7-questions-about-syria-airstrikes/

Personally, I feel these questions should have been asked before throwing missiles at Syria.

Now that the smoke is clearing, in more ways than one, there is a big mess coming Trump’s way.

President Trump celebrated firing more than 100 missiles into Syria by Tweeting, “Mission Accomplished!” They say if you cannot learn from history you are condemned to repeat it. So I guess we are repeating it.

We all remember that “Mission Accomplished” was the banner behind then-President Bush as he gloated aboard a US navy ship that the war in Iraq had been won. After his “victory,” however, some 4,000 US military personnel were killed, perhaps a million Iraqis were killed, and the country’s infrastructure and social fabric were so badly destroyed that they probably can never be repaired.

Actually, there is much about the US attack on Syria that reminds us of Iraq.

http://theantimedia.com/trump-syria-attack/

At least one Trump adviser wanted to do the right thing……Mattis…….

According to the New York Times, US officials said that ahead of Friday’s US-led attack on Syria, Defense Secretary James Mattis urged the president to get Congressional approval first. Trump overruled this, however, and officials say he wanted a “rapid” response.

Officials went on to say that Trump was worried about being seen not to follow through on his “get ready” Tweet about the attack. Mattis argued about the risk of a “wider war” with Russia. The compromise was the Friday attack, which was more limited than some hawks were expecting.

It again shows a divide between Trump and Mattis on key foreign policy issues. It is particularly huge in this case because it reveals an active Defense Secretary wanting Congressional authorization for an overseas strike.

(antiwar.com)

Mattis could be playing with fire as far as his tenure at the Pentagon goes……

I believe that I have shot my wad on this situation…..You may return now to the melodrama or is it Kabuki of the Trump White House……I shall re-visit this topic as events may dictate.

Syria: Is There A Truth Bubble?

The deed is done!  Parts of Syria is a smoldering rubble in retaliation for the alleged chemical attacks on civilians by Assad forces.

It is interesting that a Russian general predicted the chem weapon and the US response about a month before the story began……

Sometimes bizarre claims by foreign governments are so shocking they are dismissed and never thought of again. But what happens when the events predicted occur exactly as described?

A stub of an article published by Reuters on March 13, 2018, almost a month before the purported chemical attack in Ghouta, reads:

“Russia said on Tuesday it had information that the United States planned to bomb the government quarter in Damascus on an invented pretext, and said it would respond militarily if it felt Russian lives were threatened by such an attack.

http://theantimedia.com/russia-predicted-chemical-attack/

After the attack the inspectors have arrived to check out the report….I am wondering why we did not get that report first……some are saying that Trump may have gotten it all wrong……

This is the story of a town called Douma, a ravaged, stinking place of smashed apartment blocks – and of an underground clinic whose images of suffering allowed three of the Western world’s most powerful nations to bomb Syria last week. There’s even a friendly doctor in a green coat who, when I track him down in the very same clinic, cheerfully tells me that the “gas” videotape which horrified the world – despite all the doubters – is perfectly genuine.

War stories, however, have a habit of growing darker. For the same 58-year old senior Syrian doctor then adds something profoundly uncomfortable: the patients, he says, were overcome not by gas but by oxygen starvation in the rubbish-filled tunnels and basements in which they lived, on a night of wind and heavy shelling that stirred up a dust storm.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-douma-robert-fisk-ghouta-damascus-a8307726.html

I give these articles because the real story may never be known……only the crappy story line that leads to what the masters what to be done to Syria….

Syria: Is It Over?

The US, France and the UK have released their penalty on Syria for the alleged CW attack on civilians……the attack occurred before there was a positive report saying beyond the shadow of a doubt it was Syria that attack and killed civilians….

Now after the attack can we say that Assad will never be able to do this accused dastardly deed again?

If your takeaway from the reports on Friday’s air strikes on Syria’s chemical weapons facilities by US, French, and British forces was that President Bashar al-Assad’s ability to conduct future chemical strikes had been eliminated, you’d be wrong. In an analysis titled, “A Hard Lesson in Syria: Assad Can Still Gas His Own People,” the New York Times outlines four reasons why this is so, and the Wall Street Journal adds a fifth:

  1. Though the Pentagon characterized the strike’s three targets as “fundamental components of the regime’s chemical weapons warfare infrastructure,” it’s possible that is only true in a historical sense. In the wake of the strikes, there have been no reports of casualties at the targeted facilities—the Barzeh research and development center, the Him Shinshar storage facility, and a bunker—nor any reports of gas leakage, suggesting the sites could have been abandoned or only in light use.
  • The Times takes a historical view, to 2014, when Syria agreed to hand over its “declared” stockpiles of chemical weapons. Then-Secretary of State John Kerry said “we got 100% of the chemical weapons out,” and some 600 metric tons of chemical agents were destroyed by the US. The takeaway: “Mr. Assad has learned a lot about how to hide his stockpiles from inspectors.”
  • And not everything is in hiding: The Journal cites a UN report from early 2018 that names at least two suspected chemical weapons facilities that weren’t taken out on Saturday. The Pentagon reportedly limited the strikes to targets where civilians wouldn’t be affected.
  • Even if the destroyed facilities were key, it’s not that hard to rebuild them elsewhere, at least when it comes to making chlorine or sarin, which can be produced in bThe U.S. military claims the ability of the Syrian regime to use chemical weapons has been set back “for years” following strikes on Saturday. Given it is just one year since the U.S. last struck Syrian targets following a chemical weapons attack, the latest claim won’t wash for many.Indeed, the Pentagon concedes Bashar al-Assad will still likely have the ability to use chemical agents following the weekend attacks by U.S., British and French forces. The U.S. has warned it remains “locked and loaded” to strike again.
  1. And in terms of chlorine, it’s a big challenge. It’s essential in the Middle East for water purification, making it both legal and lethal. Though chemical weapons treaties ban the use of chlorine as a poison, they do not make it illegal to possess. How Michael Knights, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, puts it: “For me, the big story is chlorine; it’s not sarin. … You either have to deter the regime from using it by imposing significant costs, or you have to get rid of the regime. But there is no way you can get rid of the capability.”

Head to the Times for the full analysis.

Basically this attack will be as useless as the attack from a year ago……

The U.S. military claims the ability of the Syrian regime to use chemical weapons ha

s been set back “for years” following strikes on Saturday. Given it is just one year since the U.S. last struck Syrian targets following a chemical weapons attack, the latest claim won’t wash for many.

Indeed, the Pentagon concedes Bashar al-Assad will still likely have the ability to use chemical agents following the weekend attacks by U.S., British and French forces. The U.S. has warned it remains “locked and loaded” to strike again.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/04/16/syria_strikes_mission_accomplished_113327.html

 

Syria: Hours Tick Away

The hours go by and we still have not given an adequate response to the alleged chemical attack on civilians by the Syrian military……there was going to be a response in 48 hours well that was about 96 hours ago…..

But while we await the administration’s response to the attack there is something to consider.

I do nor believe that the culprit in the attack has not been adequately identified…..

If you’re feeling an unnerving sense of deja vu amid recent global developments, it’s because we have been here before — many times.

The United States and its allies have been accusing the Syrian government of committing chemical weapons attacks in Syria almost since the conflict began in 2011. In August 2012, then-President Barack Obama publicly warned the Assad government that the red line for his administration was “a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” which would prompt a U.S. intervention. (Additionally, after Obama successfully had Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi assassinated in 2011, he also indicated to Assad that he would be next.)

http://theantimedia.com/syria-chemical-weapons-attack-lied/

There are still many questions that need asking and answering…..this administration does not give me confidence that we are being told the truth this time around…..

There are too many pitfalls in any action that would involve Russian or Turkish ……this is not going to end well.