Salon.com > Chemical weapons

Has the Syria threat cooled?

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Watching Syria is like looking through a kaleidoscope. The picture seems to change dramatically in response to the slightest jolt, but the components remain the same. The past week has seen lots of jolts, but no real change in the elements that make up the sad picture.

Inside Syria, the regime’s forces have started an ethnic cleansing campaign in the west intended to clear Sunnis from areas its Alawite supporters want to secure for themselves. The regime has also successfully pushed south toward the Jordanian border. In much of the rest of the country, there is lots of fighting but only marginal changes in the confrontation lines, which run through many urban areas, or between the urban centers and the countryside. Almost 7 million Syrians are now thought to need humanitarian assistance. The number could rise dramatically during the rest of the year.

Secretary Kerry’s visit to Moscow this week revived, once again, hopes for a negotiated settlement. He and the Russians agreed to try to convene a conference, even before the end of the month, that would include both the Syrian opposition and the Assad regime. The prospect of this conference will relieve President Obama of any need for a quick decision on unilateral action in Syria, since it would hardly be appropriate to preempt the conference. That is likely what both the Russians and the Americans wanted: more time.

Syria to arm Hezbollah with “game-changing” weapons

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:35:00 +0000

BEIRUT — Syria will supply "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah, the chief of the Lebanese militia said Thursday, just days after Israeli airstrikes on Damascus targeted what Israel said were shipments of advanced Iranian weapons possibly bound for the group.

Any attempts to ship advanced Iranian missiles across Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon would likely draw a new Israeli response, and Thursday's warning by Hezbollah chief Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, if more than rhetoric, could signal a further escalation.

Israel has largely tried to stay out of Syria's 26-month-old conflict. It never acknowledged the airstrikes, but Israeli officials have signaled Israel's air force would strike against any shipments of strategic missiles that might be bound for Hezbollah.

Israeli officials said the Lebanese militia has tens of thousands of rockets, but that most of them are unguided. Israeli officials said the shipments targeted twice last week included precision-guided missiles.

Israel and Hezbollah fought repeatedly, including in a month-long war in 2006. During that war, Hezbollah fired thousands of rockets at Israel.

Syria crisis triggers diplomacy

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:45:00 +0000

Syria's bloody civil war shows no sign of abating, but following two Israeli airstrikes late last week near Damascus aimed at Syrian weapons stockpiles, already fraught questions of international intervention have gained even greater weight and urgency as Assad's regime has called Israeli actions "an act of war." Israel, meanwhile, stressed on Monday that the attacks were not aimed at Syria's beleaguered regime, but were intended solely to stop Iranian-supplied weapons reaching Hezbollah (even though the strikes reportedly killed 15 members of Assad's elite Republican guard). The geopolitical fallout is complicated.

U.S. and Russia meet in an attempt at framing a political solution:

Obama administration: Assad likely behind chemical arms use

Mon, 06 May 2013 20:23:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House asserted Monday that it's highly likely that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, not the rebel opposition, was behind any chemical weapons use in Syria. Responding to weekend airstrikes in Syria, the White House also reiterated its view that Israel has the right to protect itself against weapons that could pose a threat to Israelis.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says there is certainly evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria. And on Sunday, a member of a U.N. panel investigating events in Syria said there were indications that rebel forces had used the nerve agent sarin.

But Carney questioned that claim.

"We are highly skeptical of suggestions that the opposition could have or did use chemical weapons," he said. "We find it highly likely that any chemical weapon use that has taken place in Syria was done by the Assad regime. And that remains our position."

Carney's comments came as Syria remained one of the most high-profile issues confronting the administration. Air strikes over the weekend on alleged Hezbollah-bound weapons in Syria and the status of chemical weapons use kept the country's civil war at the forefront. Lebanon's Hezbollah militia is an ally of Syria and foe of Israel.

Israeli airstrikes on Syria provoke threats

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:16:00 +0000

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel rushed to beef up its rocket defenses on its northern border Sunday to shield against possible retaliation after carrying out two airstrikes in Syria over 48 hours — an unprecedented escalation of Israeli involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Syria and its patron Iran hinted at possible retribution, though the rhetoric in official statements appeared relatively muted.

Despite new concerns about a regional war, Israeli officials signaled they will keep trying to block what they see as an effort by Iran to send sophisticated weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia ahead of a possible collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to intervene in the Syrian civil war to stop the transfer of what it calls "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah, a Syrian-backed group that battled Israel to a stalemate during a monthlong war in 2006.

Since carrying out a lone airstrike in January that reportedly destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles headed to Hezbollah, Israel had largely stayed on the sidelines. That changed over the weekend with a pair of airstrikes, including an attack near a sprawling military complex close to the Syrian capital of Damascus early Sunday that set off a series of powerful explosions.

Must-see morning clip: Jon Stewart on Syria’s chemical weapons

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Jon Stewart attempts to understand if Syria has crossed the "red line" of consequences for the U.S., but can't seem to get a straight answer:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

U.S. not ready to intervene in Syria

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:35:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House declared Thursday that U.S. intelligence indicates Syrian President Bashar Assad has twice used deadly chemical weapons in his country's fierce civil war, a provocative action that would cross President Barack Obama's "red line" for a significant military response. But the administration said the revelation won't immediately change its stance on intervening.

The information, which has been known to the administration and some members of Congress for weeks, isn't solid enough to warrant quick U.S. involvement in the 2-year-old conflict, the White House said. Officials said the assessments were made with "varying degrees of confidence" given the difficulty of information gathering in Syria, though there appeared to be little question within the intelligence community.

As recently as Tuesday, when an Israeli general added to the growing chorus that Assad had used chemical weapons, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was continuing to monitor and investigate but had "not come to the conclusion that there has been that use."

Syrian government resists chemical weapons probe

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:56:00 +0000

Both Syrian rebels and the government have accused each other of using chemical weapons, prompting international ire -- the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime has long been a purported "red line" for U.S. intervention in the civil war. However, as the Guardian reports Tuesday, the Syrian government is resisting full cooperation with a United Nations probe into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Aleppo:

The Syrian government claims that the UN has attempted to widen the remit of its mission, which it says was originally intended to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo last month. It says the UN now wants "additional investigations which might allow the UN mission to spread all over the Syrian territories, and this contradicts the Syrian request from the UN and indicates to the presence of hidden intentions at the states which have sought to add those investigations as this constitutes a violation of the Syrian sovereignty".

Syrian state media reported that the government would not allow such "manoeuvres" but would still allow the mission to visit Khan al-Assal in keeping with its original intention

Sens. McCain, Levin push for military intervention in Syria

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:25:00 +0000

While the U.N. launches its investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria's Aleppo province, top senators in the Senate Armed Services committee began banging the war drum a little louder Thursday. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) wrote to the president expressing concern about the recent report (use by Assad's regime of chemical weapons has for some months been the U.S.'s purported "red-line" for military intervention. The senators advocated the use of "limited military options," such as air strikes, working with Turkish forces and boosting aid to Syrian opposition groups. HuffPo's Michael McAuliff reprinted in full the three steps recommended in the letter that Levin and McCain want the president to take:

Has Syria crossed the chemical weapon “red line”?

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:55:00 +0000

U.S. officials reported that Syria's government is preparing nerve gas bombs and would use chemical weapons against its own people. According to an NBC report, "The [Syrian] military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said."

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta followed up the reports Thursday, noting "we are very concerned that as the opposition advances particularly on Damascus that the regime might very well consider the use of chemical weapons."

Chemical weapons have for the U.S. been an expressed "red line" in regards to Syria. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated previously that should Assad deploy chemical weapons against his people, "suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action.”

Obama warns Syria against using chemical weapons

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:24:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama warned Syria on Monday that the use of chemical weapons would be "totally unacceptable" and that the country's leaders would be held accountable.

Obama said that if Syrian President Bashar Assad made the "tragic mistake" of deploying chemical weapons, there would be consequences. Obama stopped short of detailing those consequences.

Obama's comments came as U.S. officials said intelligence had detected Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days.

The White House said earlier Monday that it was increasingly concerned that the beleaguered regime in Syria might be considering use of chemical weapons against its own people and warned that doing so would "cross a red line."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said U.S. officials were closely monitoring Syria's proliferation of sensitive materials and facilities, as opposition to the Syrian government grows.

Obama spoke later Monday at a gathering on securing nuclear weapons materials.

Activity detected around Syria’s chemical weapons sites

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:59:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. and allied intelligence have detected Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days, a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, as the Obama administration again warned the Assad regime against using them.

A senior defense official said intelligence officials have detected activity around more than one of Syria's chemical weapons sites in the last week. The defense official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about intelligence matters.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Prague for meetings with Czech officials, reiterated President Barack Obama's declaration that Syrian action on chemical weapons was a "red line" for the United States that would prompt action.

"We have made our views very clear: This is a red line for the United States," Clinton told reporters. "I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice it to say, we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur."