New German intercept shows Assad responsible for chemical weapons attack

[Waiting For Everyman]

Headline:

Assad 'launched chemical attack in moment of panic because he was scared rebels would take Damascus', say spies as Russia sends missile cruiser to Mediterranean

Bashar Al-Assad launched the chemical attack which killed hundreds of people because he 'lost his nerve' in a moment of panic and worried that Damascus would fall to rebel troops, according to new intelligence.

In a telephone call which was tapped by German spy chiefs, a senior Hezbollah commander told the Iranian embassy in Lebanon that Syria's president intended to tilt the balance of power towards the regime in the battle for control of the country's capital.

...

The call from a Hezbollah leader about the chemical attack, in which he described the move as 'a big mistake', was intercepted by Germany's BNC intelligence service and reported by Der Spiegel magazine.

The revelation has led the country's top spies to agree with the U.S. intelligence assessment that Assad was indeed responsible for using chemical weapons in the attack on August 21.

...


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2411254/Syria-crisis-claims-Assad-launched-chemical-attack-scared-rebels-Damascus.html#ixzz2eKKVoLsN

The interesting thing about this, to me, is the news that Assad is that worried about actually losing Damascus.

[jakeXT]

1. The Germans have changed their story since the 4th

(Reuters) - Syrian government forces may have carried out a chemical weapons attack close to Damascus without the personal permission of President Bashar al-Assad, Germany's Bild am Sonntag paper reported on Sunday, citing German intelligence.

Syrian brigade and division commanders had been asking the Presidential Palace to allow them to use chemical weapons for the last four-and-a-half months, according to radio messages intercepted by German spies, but permission had always been denied, the paper said.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=588959

[Jackpine Radical]

2. The whole situation is like the plot of a bad spy novel--

agents, double agents, turned double agents…Who the fuck can tell what's really going on? One could even argue that the Hezbollah agent was setting Assad up just before some rebel faction deployed gas.

I don't believe that scenario--I think that the Syrian military did it, with or without Assad's knowledge/consent, but I'm just pointing out what a bed of quicksand this part of the world is.

[99Forever]

3. Post the call...

... not "somebody reported there was a call" or it's just another lie.

Same bullshit, different day.

[leveymg]

4. This is based in a DEBKAfile report from some days earlier. Disinformation.

Last edited Sun Sep 8, 2013, 03:47 PM - Edit history (1)

Yet another variation on the 08/17 DEBKAfile report that suggested that columns of US and Israeli-led commandos were streaming into Syria with goal of taking Damascus.

The thing that's interesting about that particular article was its prediction that the US would declare a No-Fly-Zone or otherwise threaten to militarily intervene within a matter a of couple weeks. Well, that's exactly what has happened. Has the tang of a successful provocation and larger deception program about it.