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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Western Intel: Assad may have secret ChemWar stockpile |
| 2014-05-06 |
| Concerns are growing among Western intelligence services that Syria still has a significant and undeclared arsenal of chemical weapons, including crude chlorine-filled bombs, secret stockpiles of sophisticated nerve gasses or their componentsâand the scientific know-how to rebuild a larger-scale, higher-grade chemical weapons effort once the Bashar al-Assad regime has escaped the international spotlight. But itâs not the only worry. Within the U.S. intelligence community, thereâs also lingering unease about the Assad regimeâs biological weapons program that has never been the focus of international inspections and that American officials confess they just donât have the resources to track down. Such allegations inevitably evoke comparisons with the bogus intelligence used to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There is the critical difference that in this case the U.S. administration is not looking for a pretext to go to war. Indeed, far from it. But the issue of remaining Syrian WMD raises the question once again of whether the United States regards these weapons as a âred lineâ justifying armed intervention or not. Washingtonâs relations with Moscow, severely strained by the Ukraine crisis, are another complicating factor. Russia played a key role in brokering the deal that was supposed to eliminate Assadâs chemical weapons capability once and for all, and helped avert an American bombing campaign last fall. But some of the biggest concerns in the American intelligence community arenât about what individual chemicals or germs that the Assad regime might have squirreled away. Theyâre about Syriaâs biologists, chemists and engineersâthe people who helped build up Assadâs massive unconventional weapons program, and could do so again, given the proper resources and time. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #7 Such allegations inevitably evoke comparisons with the bogus intelligence used to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was not "bogus intelligence" I can assure you. Saddam ignored dozens of UN resolutions, and denied access to inspectors. Tons of chemical warfare munitions were destroyed by UN teams. On August 19, 2003, at 4:45 p.m. local time, a truck bomb exploded outside the Canal Hotel, the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad. The top United Nations envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian national, was killed during the explosion. Trapped inside the rubble of the damaged building, Mr. Vieira de Mello had been able to communicate via his cellular telephone before dying of his injuries. Following the bombing of the Canal Hotel, the UN inspections were terminated. Saddam was a murdering bastard. Many are alive today because he is gone. We should all be glad he is dead. Point of trivia. Following his execution, his coffin and lifeless body arrived at FOB Speicher in the middle of the night aboard a US Army UH-60. He was buried in nearby Tikrit, his ancestral home. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-05-06 17:09 |
| #6 My favorite part: Such allegations inevitably evoke comparisons with the bogus intelligence used to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. There is the critical difference that in this case the U.S. administration is not looking for a pretext to go to war. Indeed, far from it. I'm not sure if it's a blatant partisan suck-up, or a perverse endorsement of the concept. But then again, it is from the online roadkill that was Newsweek. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-05-06 09:57 |
| #5 The threat and argument against Assad must grow if the Benghazi 'executive privilege' default must come into play. We'd like to tell you more about it, but trust us, you really don't want to know. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-05-06 06:10 |
| #4 Assad MIGHT have a stockpile of unicorns. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-05-06 05:37 |
| #3 Within the U.S. intelligence community, there's also lingering unease about the Assad regime's biological weapons program that has never been the focus of international inspections and that American officials confess they just don't have the resources to track down. Best funded intelligence service in the world also missed 9/11, PAK nuclear weapons development, and the Boston Bombing. Money won't fix it. Quit asking. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-05-06 05:20 |
| #2 Well, I had about 1200 micrograms stashed in the fishcamp freezer that I was saving for the first manned Mars Landing, but nature intervened, as it will. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-05-06 05:03 |
| #1 Of course PencilNeck has a secret chemwar stockpile. Who doesn't nowadays? Come on, admit it. You all do. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-05-06 02:04 |