Posted on 08/27/2013 9:15:31 AM PDT by mojito
There is a reason to be cautious. Both sides in the Syrian civil war have committed atrocities and both sides have misrepresented photos and falsified reports. But the burden appears to be on the government’s side.
Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), which is above partisanship as well as devoted to saving lives, has reported that the hospitals it supports in Damascus have treated thousands of victims for neuro-toxicity. Their reports say that the symptoms are a result of the presence of Sarin gas.
A former British Army chemical weapons expert says that the scale of the attack, the numbers affected and the consistency of symptoms observed on videos provided to world media by opposition websites is a staggering enterprise. The expert emphasised that it is difficult to imagine that rebel forces would have the resources to have undertaken a fraudulent staging of the dead and the wounded.
Sarin gas kills and disappears quickly. If the Syrian Army did not launch this attack and it was the fault of the rebels, then why didn’t the Syrian regime allow, indeed encourage, the U.N. inspectors, staying in a hotel only an estimated 15 minute drive from the massacre, to go to the site last Wednesday instead of delaying permission? What’s more, immediately after the alleged chemical weapons attack took place, the Syrian Army launched an offensive and heavily shelled the area.
So if it is reasonable to assume that this attack was carried out by an artillery unit of the Syrian Army, the puzzling question is “why?”
(Excerpt) Read more at english.alarabiya.net ...
Interesting analysis from an "inside" perspective: the kind you won't find in the US media.
A well reasoned article as opposed to the World Nut Daily garbage.
Give me 2 minutes to disprove that one.
Apparently the UN isn’t there to find out who, they’re there to find out if they were used and we can blame someone by consensus.
Peole are acting like using chemical weapons are AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE worse than;
Rape, dismemberment, horrible torture, applying the above to your enemy’s family, etc. etc. etc.
All of which have been going on in Syria for decades.
I think putting chemicals in a special class is a hangover from the WWI horrors.
Maybe it wasn't 'fraudulent staging'. Maybe it was the real thing. Several hundred dead Mexicans say that the Obama administration isn't above expending a few innocents to 'stage' a basis for their bolshevik policies.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/The-Big-Dilemma-Facing-Doctors-Without-Borders-199042661.html#ixzz2dBgswe9j Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
"Achmed, get more ammunition, we must continue shelling." "Yes, sir but we are out of the HE rounds, I had to use those blue-marked ones for the last volley." "YOU WHAT??? NO ONE is supposed to fire the blue rounds without orders from the top. Oh, Achmed, what have you done?"
The so-called “rebels” have a stronger motive for gassing their own people and saying Assad did it, than Assad has for using the weapons at a time when his forces have made significant military gains and when the use of chemical weapons threatens to bring an international response.
However, as the article states, if Assad didn't use the weapons, why hinder the access of UN personnel to the attack site, which the Assad regime undoubtedly has?
From the article: “So if it is reasonable to assume that this attack was carried out by an artillery unit of the Syrian Army, the puzzling question is “why?””
Surely any assumption would have at it’s base a reasonable theory as to why and that assumption would also take into account who would it favor to have the US believe that the Syrian Army did this. Now they may be playing the old double bluff but I think they Syrian government has more to lose than to gain from the use of such weapons.
Because of The Idiot-in-Chief the rebels have more to gain from using them and convincing the world that the government did. Either way Obama paved the way for this to happen - he should be thrown in jail for stupidity and incompetence beyond belief!
Why? Al Qaeda knows 0bama is on their side and will bomb Assad for them.
an Islamic council in the rebel head portion of Aleppo outlawed the croissant as anti-Islamic. This is because it was allegedly created by Viennese bakers to celebrate the failure of the first Ottoman siege of Vienna some five or so centuries ago.
FIVE HUNDRED YEARS go by and they do this petty thing. Tell me that Muslims aren't stuck in the dark ages.
If I were Assad, I would worry that the order of events would go like this:
Monday -- western observers type up the report indicating that Assad is guilty of war crimes.
Tuesday -- western observers tour the site where chemical weapons may have been used.
Wednesday -- western observers mail the report they typed on Monday.
Leaders like Assad are paranoid, and they probably have good reason to be paranoid.
Because the government quickly realized they been had and there was no way to turn the consensus around regardless of whether the inspectors visited or not.
I did a ton of research and reading all night last night (couldnt sleep after job searching) on the use of Sarin. Hopefully I wont get a visit from the Feds!
Sarin is not easily stored. It breaks down pretty quickly so it often stored in a form that requires mixing to be “reactivated” for weapons use. It either has to be mixed by someone trained or it is stored in a binary, or split, configuration. In binary form, the chemical agent will be in seperate compartments inside a round or warhead that is mixed after be fired. We believe that Syria has stockpiles of both Sarin and Mustard.
Sarin being a nerve agent, it causes convulsions, vomiting, spasms, and pinpoint pupils. Some of the victims do show these symptoms. None of the symptoms match mustard gas. Sarin, deployed in an artillery shell and detonated, will sink to the lowest parts of the room. Clothing can remain toxic for up to thirty minutes. Any first responders will HAVE to have protection. Further infection can be caused by both skin contact and breathing in the vapors. Sarin doesnt really spread far and wont remain active for more than an hour or two at the most.
If this town was shelled by both conventenial and chemical weapons, it could explain why people stayed in their homes rather than got the heck out. Being in their homes or closed spaces will represent the greatest risk of infection.
It is still way too early to tell who launched this attack. It is absolutely possible that the FSA has defectors that can use this stuff. It is also possible that the FSA had access to prepared, binary rounds.
I’m not an expert, just highly interested and none of the news media is digging in and providing much info on Sarin. I tried to find pictures of chemical attacks and Iraq / Iran came up alot. Lots of dead in the streets like they were trying to get away. Bodies were too decomposed to tell anything so the pics werent much help. Didnt help me sleep either.
They’re still upset about Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael aren’t they?
So, the Arab world gets fed up with the rebels, start turning against them, and the next thing you know, Assad, who would not want to injure that increasing rejection of the rebels, decides to launch a chemical attack against those rebels, thereby killing the momentum against the rebels, the exact opposite of what was in his best interests.
Seems odd.
“The so-called “rebels” have a stronger motive for gassing their own people and saying Assad did it, than Assad has for using the weapons at a time when his forces have made significant military gains and when the use of chemical weapons threatens to bring an international response.”
Bingo! I don’t Asshat er Assad had anything to do with it.
Good post. Thanks for the info.
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