Intercepts caught Assad rejecting requests to use chemical weapons, German paper says

[morningfog]

BERLIN -- Syrian President Bashar Assad has repeatedly rejected requests from his field commanders for approval to use chemical weapons, according to a report this weekend in a German newspaper.

The report in Bild am Sonntag, which is a widely read and influential national Sunday newspaper, reported that the head of the German Foreign Intelligence agency, Gerhard Schindler, last week told a select group of German lawmakers that intercepted communications had convinced German intelligence officials that Assad did not order or approve what is believed to be a sarin gas attack on Aug. 21 that killed hundreds of people in Damascus’ eastern suburbs.

The Obama administration has blamed the attack on Assad. The evidence against Assad was described over the weekend as common sense by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on CNN’s State of the Union.

“The material was used in the eastern suburbs of Damascus that have been controlled by the opposition for some time,” he said. “It was delivered by rockets, rockets that we know the Assad regime has, and we have no indication that the opposition has.”

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/09/201515/intercepts-caught-assad-rejecting.html#.Ui2-Fz9C7Aw

[Wilms]

1. ^

[rhett o rick]

2. k&r thanks for posting. nm

[malaise]

3. Oh dear

Rec

[morningfog]

4. May explain why Germany declined to join in the statement

released during the G20?

[liberal_at_heart]

5. I can't believe we may attack yet another country with little to no evidence.

[Catherina]

6. Chief of staff of Germany's armed forces 'al-Qaeda forces within the rebels stronger & stronger'

The chief of staff of Germany's armed forces, General Volker Wieker, also told lawmakers the influence of al-Qaeda linked forces within the rebels was becoming stronger and stronger.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/08/us-syria-crisis-germany-idUSBRE98707B20130908

According Wieker there were hardly any defectors from the ranks of the Assad troops. Because, as a rule, deserters were shot by the rebels immediately.

http://german.irib.ir/nachrichten/nahost/item/226043-%C2%BBbild-am-sonntag%C2%AB-assad-hat-giftgas-einsatz-nicht-genehmigt

The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, Volker Wieker, reported a dramatic shift of power within the rebel forces after the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) has lost its former military leadership.

The General added that no merger of deserters from the Assad troops exists any longer. Instead, the influence of the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda in the rebel movement became stronger and stronger - with dramatic consequences. According Wieker there are few defectors from the ranks of the Assad troops. Because deserters were shot by the rebels as a rule immediately.

http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/syrien-krise/assad-kommandeure-wollten-giftgas-einsetzen-32300094.bild.html

[avaistheone1]

7. So glad the American people did not want to follow our leaders and run off to war

based on unsubstantiated info.