http://rt.com/news/rebel-tunnel-damascus-chemical-940/
Syrian rebels use toxic chemicals against govt troops near Damascus - state media
Published time: August 24, 2013 10:12
Edited time: August 24, 2013 18:40
Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons against regime forces in the Damascus suburb of Jobar, where soldiers discovered stockpiles of toxic poisoning antidotes, state media reports.
According to SANA citing “an official source” suffocation cases among army soldiers have been reported.
The source told the agency that army unit pushed into the area, where soldiers were attacked, and seized a warehouse containing material labeled ‘Made in KSA’ as well as a large number of protective masks.
In addition, the army discovered a stockpile of chemical poisoning antidotes with ‘The Qatari-German Company for Pharmaceutical Industries’ label on them.
Clashes have been reported between rebels and regime forces in Jobar.
FLASHBACK:
‘Desperate’ Assad could use chemical weapons in Syria, says Hillary Clinton
The United States is worried that an increasingly desperate Bashar al-Assad could resort to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, or lose control of them, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
2:52PM GMT 05 Dec 2012
After a meeting of Nato foreign ministers at which the Western military alliance agreed to send Patriot anti-missile batteries to Syria’s neighbour, Turkey, Clinton said Washington had made clear to Syria that use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” for the United States.
“Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria,” Clinton told a news conference.
“And so as part of the absolute unity that we all have on this issue we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account.”
Saying a political transition in Syria needed to start as soon as possible, Clinton said the United States would do what it could to support the Syrian opposition, now that a new opposition coalition has been formed.
(snip)
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/syrian-president-assad-regarded-reformer-clinton-says
Syrian President Assad Regarded As a ‘Reformer,’ Clinton Says
March 28, 2011
EXCERPT
Doing the round of Sunday television talk shows with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Clinton told CBS’s Face the Nation that the U.S. would not enter the conflict in Syria as it has in Libya.
“No,” she said. “Each of these situations is unique.”
While saying the administration deplored the violence in Syria, she contrasted the situation to that of Libya.
“What’s been happening there [in Syria] the last few weeks is deeply concerning, but there’s a difference between calling out aircraft and indiscriminately strafing and bombing your own cities and then police actions, which, frankly, have exceeded the use of force that any of us would want to see.”
Clinton described Muammar Gaddafi as “someone who has behaved in a way that caused grave concern in the past 40-plus years in the Arab world, the African world, Europe, and the United States.”
CBS newsman Bob Schieffer, the interviewer, noted that the president’s father, Hafez Assad, had “killed 25,000 people at a lick” – a reference to the crushing of an Islamist revolt in the town of Hama in 1982 – and said the regime now was firing at civilians with live ammunition.
“Why is that different from Libya?” he asked.
“There’s a different leader in Syria now,” Clinton said. “Many of the members of Congress of both parties who have gone to Syria in recent months have said they believe he’s a reformer.”
Following Syria’s Devastating Chemical Weapons Attack, Will Media Remember Hillary’s Touting of ‘Reformer’ Assad?