Posted on 11/22/2012 4:54:28 PM PST by lbryce
The latest estimates say that the Assad regime has hundreds of tons of mustard gas, a blister agent, and large stockpiles of sarin and possibly VX, both of which are nerve agents -- all of which can be launched by Scud missiles, artillery, or aircraft, according to Charles Blair, a specialist in chemical and biological weapons at the Federation of American Scientists. "I've heard that Syria has 100 to 200 missiles with nerve agents loaded and ready to go, but that seems extreme," said Blair, noting that the nerve agents are usually stored separately from the weapons and that exact estimates about the size of the regime's stockpile are almost impossible to come by.
Although the U.S. government has released only vague estimates as to the size of Syria's chemical and biological weapons stockpile, Dempsey told lawmakers in March that the arsenal was "100 times the magnitude we experienced in Libya." Libya acceded to the international Chemical Weapons Convention in 2004 and had largely destroyed its useful stockpile of such weapons by the time Qaddafi's regime fell in 2011, according to Blair.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
All the WMDs not found in Iraq?
When I was in South Korea we were told at one point to expect 75% casualties because of these types of weapons.
No doubt. Todays chemical are not the kind used in the First World War. My late grandfather served in the Untied States First Gas and Flame regiment in WW1. He was wounded three types by gas and had a portion of one lung removed. Only one wound resulted from German gas, the other two were from his own units stuff that blew back on them.
Typo; meant to say ‘’three times’’.
And some of them probably came from Saddam’s stuff that he shipped over before he got hung.
If Assad is fool enough to use that crap against Israel, Israel would be justified in going full nuclear on the bastards and erasing every city, town and village in that sh!t hole. Sick of dumb inbred a-rabs. Almost as sick of them as I am of dumb demoncraps.
Today’s weapons are produce some pretty terrible ways to die but are not that easy to disperse efficiently and tend to have a short period of effectiveness.
Sunlight will kill most of the agents and rain washes it away. They will kill most people during the initial attack and serve as a tool for area denial.
You clearly do not know the Assad regime if you think that he would use them against Israel. Sometimes people are just ignorant about the issues. Israel is by far better off with Assad in power, Israel knows this, Assad knows this, the “insurgents” know this.
After Syria, will come Jordan and possibly Lebanon. What will happen will be the entire Middle east will be extremist sunni islamic political parties in power, all to neuter Iran which is a paper tiger in this case compared to the real threat of militant sunni islam. Israel is wiped off the face of the planet when it will be surrounded by sunni extremists.
A big difference for example can just be viewed in Saudi Arabia and Iran. You can’t practice Judaism in Saudi Arabia, you are not even allowed in the country. While Iran has synagogues, jewish iranians, jewish members of parliament, the largest church in the middle east, christian iranians. They might outlaw conversion but upon comparison i would choose the lesser evil to back. Saudi Arabia and militant Sunnis hate Jewish people, they heavily finance the spreading of islam across the world, building mosques in every country. Iran on the other hand make it clear when they talk about israel, they talk of zionism and the government not jewish people, there is a big difference. I know you will bring up their president talking about wiping them out has been misinterpreted so many times there are thousands of articles talking about it. That is besides the point as muslims always do some chest beating, I mean the guy has scandals where he gets misquoted about wiping them out as a nation and then goes on to say a two state solution would be acceptable.
They both suck but when you have two people you hate, who coincidentally hate each other; you dont help one of them. You keep them both strong, and let them keep fighting against each other.
I know im ranting, but im sick of people misunderstanding the enemy, and cheering for sunni terrorists of the same creed as those who attacked us on 9/11.(not accuse you of cheering them on but in general there has been support on FR for the “insurgents”)
Assad will not attack Israel, not in a million years, this is actually a very funny scenario where iran and israel want the same thing. Its a case of Israel vs Sunni vs Shiite. All three hate each other equally, so the wise thing is not to strengthen the Sunni to the extent where they can neutralize the Shiite threat, only to be left with Israel to deal with. You want a situation where the Sunni and the Shiite offset each other in such a manner that Israel is safe.
If the world wanted Assad gone he would be gone but thankfully there are entities in this world that arent completely retarded, in this case specifically Russia and China(cant believe i agree with them).
Apologies if I seem harsh in my response, that is not intended.
So how did Syria build this massive stockpile without the world knowing?
Step One: Hamas engages Israel, partially depletes IRONDOME defenses.
Step Two: Hezbollah in Lebanon, with 15X the number of Al-Fajers, depletes Irondome completely.
Srep 3: Syria launches gas weapons.
...and then....
Using such weapons today is the death sentence for any nation or army in that the first use of such weapons will bring a massive and more lethal response from a military such as ours. The far more deadlier use of these weapons would be as my late grandfather used to say would be in a city. As he used to say a canister no bigger than a thermos bottle introduced into the ventilation system of a large office building would wreak havoc.
Don’t kid yourself, if Hitler had figured out a way to use gas without getting payback in kind, he’d have used it. He didn’t find anything “abhorrent” unless it was his neck on the line. IOW, a typical sociopath coward.
Don’t you think Syria would get nukes back if they fired gas?
Or a Japanese subway....
Good, concise explanation - Thanks.
You are incorrect in your assumption that your reason was the reasoning for gas and chemical agents being outlawed. Read up on it, or go to Belgium on 11th month being November 11th, at the 11th hour, and on the moment of the 11th minute as the crowd utters just under their breath the words, “We will remember” which will rise up and move you like nothing you have experienced and then understand why these weapons were outlawed.
It is true that Hitler himself swore off the use by his military of these weapons, and just for the reason stated that he had been injured; on a side note he won the Iron Cross twice in WWI, and once after being “wounded” by gas and the other for being a courier who succeeded where others had failed to deliver. Hitler’s own experience was enough for him, unfortunately that does not explain his final solution and the use of gas so does leave some questions, but in combat he was the reason the Germans did not use it.
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