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There's Almost No Chance Russia's Plan for Syria's Chemical Weapons Will Work
Foreign Policy ^ | 09/11/2013 | Yochi Dreazen

Posted on 09/11/2013 7:35:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Russia's proposal for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to place his chemical weapons under international supervision and then destroy them is quickly gaining steam. Assad's government accepted the plan this morning.

A few hours later, President Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande announced that they'd seriously explore the proposal. It already has the backing of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a growing number of influential lawmakers from both parties. There's just one problem: the plan would be nearly impossible to actually carry out.

Experts in chemical weapons disposal point to a host of challenges. Taking control of Assad's enormous stores of the munitions would be difficult to do in the midst of a brutal civil war. Dozens of new facilities for destroying the weapons would have to be built from scratch or brought into the country from the U.S., and completing the job would potentially take a decade or more. The work itself would need to be done by specially-trained military personnel or contractors. Guess which country has most of those troops and civilian experts? If you said the U.S., you'd be right.

"This isn't simply burning the leaves in your backyard," said Mike Kuhlman, the chief scientist for national security at Battelle, a company that has been involved in chemical weapons disposal work at several sites in the U.S. "It's not something you do overnight, it's not easy, and it's not cheap."

The decades-long U.S. push to eliminate its own chemical weapons stockpiles illustrates the tough road ahead if Washington and Damascus come to a deal. The Army organization responsible for destroying America's massive quantities of munitions says the effort will take two years longer than initially planned and cost $2 billion more than its last estimate.

(Excerpt) Read more at thecable.foreignpolicy.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; Russia; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: chemicalweapons; davidcameron; europeanunion; france; francoishollande; hitlersrhineland; iran; israel; lebanon; maheralassad; potassiumfluoride; russia; sarin; sodiumfluoride; syria; thebrotherdidit; unitedkingdom; waronterror
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To: SeekAndFind
There's Almost No Chance Russia's Plan for Syria's Chemical Weapons Will Work.

It's tied Obama's inept scheme in knots and prevented him from moving forward. Assad's air force is back in action. Russian arms deliveries have resumed. I'd say it's already accomplished most of what it was supposed to.

21 posted on 09/11/2013 7:57:43 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: SeekAndFind
It won't work, and it won't matter.

Obama just needed a way out, and got one.

Unless another chemical attack occurs, this situation ends with a stronger Assad, a stronger Russia, and a relieved Obama. In a year we'll be asking "whatever happened to that 'turning over chemical weapons' agreement that involved Syria?"
22 posted on 09/11/2013 7:59:44 AM PDT by mmichaels1970
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To: SeekAndFind

If it keeps us out of there, who cares if it works or not?


23 posted on 09/11/2013 8:00:27 AM PDT by Slump Tester (What if I'm pregnant Teddy? Errr-ahh -Calm down Mary Jo, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)
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To: SeekAndFind

It sounds great in theory and it can’t work in practice. Standard liberal SOP.


24 posted on 09/11/2013 8:01:17 AM PDT by Personal Responsibility (Government: Slimy used car salesmen writing laws forcing you to buy their cars)
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To: SeekAndFind
Why can't Assad's own army move all the weapons to a port facility on the Med where they would be loaded onto a ship? His air force would cover the movements. Our drones could observe the whole thing. Disposal could be handled later.
25 posted on 09/11/2013 8:01:45 AM PDT by ryan71 (The Partisans)
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To: SeekAndFind

OR....move the chemical weapons BACK to Iraq where they came from. That’s a brilliant plan.


26 posted on 09/11/2013 8:04:34 AM PDT by ryan71 (The Partisans)
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To: dfwgator
I would hope they (Russian troops) would make a beeline for those Christian villages

That would simply be a wonderful thing for civilization, but it would not be good for Obama's reputation.

I vote to put civilization first.

27 posted on 09/11/2013 8:04:43 AM PDT by Leaning Right (Why am I holding this lantern? I am looking for the next Reagan.)
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To: Leaning Right

F Obama’s Reputation.


28 posted on 09/11/2013 8:05:17 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: SeekAndFind

Of course it won’t. No one believes it’ll work. But if it keeps us out of there and it delays WWIII, then I’ll play along.


29 posted on 09/11/2013 8:06:17 AM PDT by bgill (This reply was mined before it was posted.)
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To: dfwgator

You are correct, ‘Gator, as you usually are.


30 posted on 09/11/2013 8:16:53 AM PDT by Cyber Liberty (Uncle Miltie: Obama poisoned race relations for a generation. Everything is racial now.)
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To: SeekAndFind

LOL. THE PLAN is not intended to work. It is intended to delay. And that part of the plan will work. Fortunately.


31 posted on 09/11/2013 8:19:52 AM PDT by InterceptPoint
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To: Dark Knight
Did anyone else notice we have stockpiles of WMDs that have been outlawed for more than one hundred years?

Well, Obama lied about that "outlawed for one hundred years" thingy.

They weren't outlawed until 1997 according to this Wiki page:

1993: The United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention was signed by 162 member countries, banning the production and stockpiling of many chemical weapons, including sarin. It went into effect on 29 April 1997, and called for the complete destruction of all specified stockpiles of chemical weapons by April 2007.[27]

32 posted on 09/11/2013 8:24:01 AM PDT by BigBobber
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To: dfwgator

Dig down through the hoop-a-la and you will see the ploy that all nations, including the USA, will not only promise not to use WOMDs but also that all such weapons will be under the control of UN inspectors. Putin has corraled the USA and friends who no doubt have the makings.


33 posted on 09/11/2013 8:30:28 AM PDT by noinfringers2
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To: mmichaels1970

“Obama just needed a way out, and got one.”

Yep. For 0bama it’s off to the next shiny new object. The next thing, only thing, we will hear about Syria will be how Assad has crushed the rebellion (with Russian weapons) and won. It will be a five second blurb on ABC about 90 days from now.


34 posted on 09/11/2013 8:31:45 AM PDT by henkster (democrats will sacrifice the lives of our servicemen so 0bama doesn't look bad.)
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To: SeekAndFind

In the speech, Obama said that Syria, “Violated International Treaty” by using Chemical Weapons.

Syria is NOT a party to the Chemical Weapons Treaties, so how could they have violated them???

And no one in the media has dared to ask this question, but Russian media sure is.


35 posted on 09/11/2013 8:33:32 AM PDT by tcrlaf (Well, it is what the Sheeple voted for....)
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s not supposed to work. It’s supposed to end talk of US military action, establish Putin as the dominant force in the world, and allow Assad to retain his advantage in the Syrian civil war, the only price being that he will have to be a little more discreet about what he does.

That it saves face of Obama is merely one Marxist doing a favor for another.


36 posted on 09/11/2013 8:43:15 AM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: dfwgator

“It’s not supposed to work. But Obama bought it.”

Syria received them from Iraq. There is no evidence that the government in Syria has used them.

This whole operation by Obama was not about chemical weapons. It was about installing Obama’s fellow terrorists in yet another Muslim country.

The plan by the Russians will get the bulk of the chemical weapons out of circulation. That’s a good thing... Unfortunately it won’t get rid of the ones in the possession of Obama’s friends.


37 posted on 09/11/2013 8:43:38 AM PDT by babygene ( .)
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To: SeekAndFind

Communists lie a a matter of course. Islamofascists lie as a matter of course. That’s all you need to know.


38 posted on 09/11/2013 8:43:45 AM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: SeekAndFind
It was never meant to work.

Putin knows that the last thing that the Democrats in Congress and President want is public exposure of Assad's chemical and biological WMD inventory.

This is because much of Assad's WMDs are actually Saddam missing “Bush Lied, People Died” that were transferred out of Iraq, with Russia's and Putins (Russia's President at the time) help, just before the US invaded.

Congress, including the Democrats, was fully aware of the transfer via intelligence briefings.

Democrats lied about Saddam's WMDs to undermine the war effort in Iraq and to destroy the Bush Presidency, which they came close to doing.

Putin knows that the Democrats simply cannot afford to have the truth about Syria's WMDs exposed to the public because if the truth came about how badly the Democrats lied to undermined Bush's War on Terror it would be devastating.

The real truth about the Iraq war was that the Democrats and Media lied and American soldiers and Iraqi civilians dies unnecessarily due to an insurgency aided and given unwarranted legitimacy by the lies about Saddam’’s WMDs

This is a Putin master stroke and an explicit personal threat to the President and the Democrats in Congress and they know it. Putin and Syria have a lot of implicit blackmail leverage over the whole bush lied, people died crowd and have outmaneuvered President Obama so badly it's laughable.

What is going to happen is that the US is going to pay to astronomical cost of disposing of old, dangerously unstable and obsolete WMDs while Obama makes sure everyone looks away while Assad gets to keep any and all of his WMD weapons stores.

Russia now owns Syria and will openly help Assad destroy the insurgency and Obama’s under the table efforts to install a Egypt/Libyan Muslim Brotherhood /Al Qaeda puppet government in Syria has failed.

The Arab Oil States brokering the insurgency now know that America will not help them and so they are isolated and would have to face Russia and Iran in a direct war if they overtly help the Syrian insurgents. They know they would lose such a conflict and see their oil fields destroyed (which would not bother Putin's oil income dependent Russia one bit)

The insurgents are now isolated and doomed.

As usual, Russia's Putin is playing Geo Political Gran Master Chess on a Chess Board that the US has had a lock on for 20 years while President Obama is in the lavatory adjoining the Oval Office playing with himself.

39 posted on 09/11/2013 8:45:50 AM PDT by rdcbn
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To: dfwgator
It’s not supposed to work. But Obama bought it.

You are CORRECT. Obunga was played like a fine Stradivarius so as to prevent himself from having to take any kind of action.

Leading from FAR, FAR BEHIND.

40 posted on 09/11/2013 9:26:30 AM PDT by VideoDoctor
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