Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say

Foreign Policy ^ | 8-27-13 | Posted By Noah Shachtman

[quimby]

Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they're certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime -- and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days.

But the intercept raises questions about culpability for the chemical massacre, even as it answers others: Was the attack on Aug. 21 the work of a Syrian officer overstepping his bounds? Or was the strike explicitly directed by senior members of the Assad regime? "It's unclear where control lies," one U.S. intelligence official told The Cable. "Is there just some sort of general blessing to use these things? Or are there explicit orders for each attack?"

[no-to-illegals]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/28/us-syria-crisis-europe-idUSBRE97R0N220130828

[Uncle Miltie]

Or did an underling go rogue for the rebels?

There would be no better way to support the rebels than use gas on behalf of Assad, ensuring American strikes.

Unless you can establish that an order was given to use gas, culpability is not proved.

[DoughtyOne]

After the NSA denying what they have actually been doing domestically, this comes of more or less like one of those promises where the guy winds up by saying, “...you can trust me this time. Honest!”

[quimby]

From your link:

DAMASCUS | Wed Aug 28, 2013 8:56am EDT (Reuters) - Syria's deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday that the United States, Britain and France helped "terrorists" use chemical weapons in Syria, and that the same groups would soon use them against Europe. Speaking to reporters outside the Four Seasons hotel in Damascus, Faisal Maqdad said he had presented U.N. chemical weapons inspectors with evidence that "armed terrorist groups" had used sarin gas in all the sites of alleged attacks.

"We repeat that the terrorist groups are the ones that used (chemical weapons) with the help of the United States, the United Kingdom and France, and this has to stop," he said. "This means these chemical weapons will soon be used by the same groups against the people of Europe," he added.

[Earthdweller]

The Syrians use Verizon to communicate their war plans...no really....and they wait 15 minutes before UN inspectors get to the country and gas people ten minutes away...no really....LOL.

[Darksheare]

Ruse, and lame attempt to justify domestic spying.

[no-to-illegals]

tweets crazy this A.M. ... http://investmentwatchblog.com/breaking-huge-explosions-intense-israeli-air-force-activity-in-lebanon-another-cw-attack-explosions-near-assads-palace/

[NFHale]

Regardless...

Let them eat each other.

Keep track of who has it, and if it even remotely looks like it’s coming OUR way, THEN we stomp them.

Otherwise... not our problem.

[DoughtyOne]

That’s the sort of thing reasoning that worries me. In addition, if this were crossing a red line now, why wasn’t it crossing a red line months ago when Syria first did this?

[no-to-illegals]

npr, so am taking a huge grain of salt to digest ... http://www.npr.org/2013/08/27/216006349/israels-view-of-u-s-military-action-against-syria-is-complicated

[zbogwan2]

I wonder if Obama was reading from a teleprompter when he laid down his infamous Red Line Crossing statement?

[no-to-illegals]

Thank you PGalt. Glad am on the same page as you!

[cincinnati65]

You know that the U.N. found no evidence that it was Syria, but extensive evidence that it was the rebels earlier this year, right?

Testimony from victims now strongly suggests it was the rebels, not the Syrian government, that used Sarin Nerve Gas during a recent incident in the revolution-wracked nation, a senior UN diplomat said Monday. Carla del Ponte, a member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told Swiss TV there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” that rebels seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used the nerve agent.

But she said her panel had not yet seen any evidence of Syrian government forces using chemical weapons (CW), according to the BBC, she added that more investigation was needed.

[Truth29]

"The Syrians use Verizon to communicate their war plans...no really....and they wait 15 minutes before UN inspectors get to the country and gas people ten minutes away...no really....LOL."

Right on! We will never get the truth from these articles or alleged leaks.

[mosesdapoet]

In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say,
The original sources seem to be Israeli and they reported it was a conversation between two officials about treatments. Later there was a claim that was attributed Assad’s brother These were reported here in FR’s during the past two weeks.

quimby wrote: This story does not claim a US source, It claims a US official “overheard” the conversations. It implies the US intercepted the conversations, but they could have heard the israeli tapes.

OK Report “imp-lies” a US interception. Of course they heard the tapes how else could they use the imp that lied ?

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks. No, I was not aware of that report.

I appreciate the mention.

[SoFloFreeper]

[Earthdweller]

This whole “reported incidence” reminds me of a psych opps plan reenacted by Code Pink playing the gay three stooges. Two guesses which side rolls like that....

[DoughtyOne]

LOL, Bath-House Barry’s side?

[The Great RJ]

I bet the NSA learned this by listening in on the telephone calls of an 88 year old grandmother in Florida and monitoring Internet pizza delivery orders in Fargo.