What Alan Grayson REALLY says about the "Proof Assad Did It" - IN HIS OWN WORDS...
ALAN GRAYSON, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (D-FL): Well, if you're talking about Assad ordering the chemical attacks, the answer is no. And, in fact, all we received, all members of Congress have received, even though we each have classified clearance, is the four-page public document that's declassified that everyone's had available to them, plus a 12-page summary, without any of the underlying intelligence reports. That's what's available to us. We are in essence being asked to vote to go to war on the basis of 16 pages prepared only by the proponents.
Now, you can see the four-page document. You can see that it only makes the case for war without giving you the other side of the story. I can't tell you what's in the 12-page document, but you can draw your own conclusions about that. Even though we have a legal right through our classified clearance to see the underlying documents, the intelligence reports, the SIGINT, the HUMINT, to see these things underneath it all, we haven't been given any of that. In fact, German intelligence, it's been reported through Reuters and The Guardian, has indicated through their intelligence that Assad did not order the attack and in fact ordered that there be no attack and that this was in essence a rogue operation. Frankly, it's disturbing and disappointing to me to see that we get information like that through Reuters and through The Guardian from German intelligence rather than through our own intelligence.
And I think that a great nation like ours needs to have a rational decision-making process when deciding on war and peace. That means giving the decision-makers all the relevant information and letting us make up our minds.
DESVARIEUX: Have you been able to ask the White House for more information? And part two of my question is that there was a report by Gareth Porter from IPS, and he states that essentially the White House culled the information in the public intelligence report, essentially questioning whether or not the White House omitted certain information in order to make sure that they were making the case to strike Syria.
GRAYSON: Well, as you can see from the public document, the four-page document that was released, they've omitted all of the information that goes against their case. There's not a single bit of contrary information in that document. And many members of Congress now, including whole committees in Congress, have asked the administration to provide the underlying intelligence, the signal intelligence, the human intelligence, and so on, and at least let us, through our classified clearance, see the reality of the situation. And so far, after a week of requests, they said they were going to do it and they haven't done it.
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http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10712
BTW: Here's the report by Gareth Porter referenced above:
Part 1:
Part 2:
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Wow I had to stop after that. I was breathless there at the beginning, anticipated some Real News. 
If Putin says it it must be true! It must be, right? That's what you are implying. Oh no! you fear for Assad. That they might pin it on him? Are you serious?
Sid
Response to dkf (Reply #32)
I was merely pointing out that both sides have the capability to make and launch the sort of crude Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions (IRAM) reportedly used to deliver Sarin gas on 8/21. In fact, there is a third party that reportedly introduced this specific type of IRAM -- or something very similar -- to Syria. They started showing up last year after being used by units of Hezbollah, and until 8/21 were associated with foreign militia not the Syrian Army. They are also described as being highly inaccurate with limited range because of their high drag, lack of spin stabilization, and very poor flight characteristics. Of you will note, these things have a single central rocket nozzle rather than six canted outlets which are a stabilizing feature of the Fajr-1 based devices described, so these are true improvised devices not standard artillery rockets. In other words, the devices used on 8/21 are essentially home-made, and could have been made and launched by anyone.
Brown Moses Blog
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
DIY Weapons In Syria - Hezbollah Deploys IRAMs In Qusayr
A few weeks ago I was sent a photograph of a unidentified munition recovered by fighters in Qusayr, reportedly fired by government forces
My eye was drawn to the markings, with "M220" possibly referring to part of an BGM-71 TOW, a type of US wire-guided missile, or the M220 propelling cartridge for M889A1/M889A2/M821A2 81mm high explosive mortar bombs. However, it wasn't clear how either would relate to this munition, so this device remained a mystery.
Thanks to the freelance journalist Josh Wood I now have much more information on these items, including a gallery of photographs, and details of how they were actually used. Josh told me this about his interview with the opposition fighter who provided the images
This weapon was used by Hezbollah forces in Qusayr. He described them as 107mm rockets fitted to something with a higher payload, with the 107mm propelling everything. He said the max range on these was about 1 km, but most of the time they were simply fired across the street horizontally at extremely close range. By his description, one of these could do significant damage to a small house. He said that these rockets really helped Hezbollah shift the tide in parts of that front-line.
The description of the damage it did to buildings reminded me of something Colonel Aqidi of the Free Syrian Army said in his interview about the situation he encountered in Qusayr
The enemy was applying a scorched earth policy by firing Iranian vacuum bombs, which caused whole building to fall down.
He may not be referring to these devices, as there was a lot of ordnance being used, but I'd assume he'd know the bombs dropped by the air-force are all Soviet. So what is this device?
I believe what we have here is what's know as an IRAM, an Improvised Rocket Assisted Mortar/Munition. In it's most basic form it's a barrel of explosives with a rocket motor attached (commonly from 107mm rockets), which allows an oversized payload to be launched a short range. It's a weapon used extensively in Iraq, as former United States Navy explosives ordnance disposal officer John Ismay told the New York Times
These weapons were solely used by Jaysh al Mahdi (JAM) Special Groups, which were the Shia fighting groups trained/funded/financed/equipped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force.
If I’m not mistaken, only one group was really tied to the IRAM, and that was Kataib Hezbollah.
Kataib Hezbollah shouldn't been mistaken for Lebanon's Hezbollah, but they do have some obvious things in common with each other.
As the above New York Times article points out, this isn't the first time IRAMs have been spotted in Syria, with around a dozen videos posted so far. What is interesting about this IRAM is the design is very different from the others used so far, as appears to have a much larger warhead.
Both types use 107mm rockets, but in the earlier IRAMs the warhead appears to be generally smaller than the rocket, while in the above example it seems larger. CJ Chivers had this to say on the warhead
The point re: the M220 is not that the warhead originated from either a TOW or a mortar round; that's not especially important, because obviously it is not either. It's that someone may have repurposed a munitions storage case instead of using a large pipe, water tank, small barrel etc for a DIY projectile.
I spoke to John Ismay, and asked him about the design of the IRAM:
I was wondering if this looks like a design you've encountered before?
The design in the photographs doesn't look like the ones we encountered in Iraq. Those generally used an acetylene tank for a warhead section. The fuzes were a pyrotechnic time-delay and were generally all of the same design.
The tail section is very different from what we've seen in previous IRAMs, what are your thoughts on it's design?
The tail section shown in the photographs is curious, and probably is one of several reasons this weapon failed to function as designed. The Fadjr-1 is an Iranian copy of the Chinese Type 63 artillery rocket. These rockets have six canted venturi nozzles that impart instantaneous stabilizing spin to the weapon, thus freeing it from needing a rifled launcher. Check this page for some diagrams.
Thus, the added tail section is superfluous, and only adds weight to the tail. I suppose it's possible that the designer thought the addition would better help it fit into a cylindrical launcher, but this is really a cosmetic change at best and an additional destabilizing mod (on an already non-aerodynamic system) at worst.
Notice in the video you posted that most of the people clamoring over the launcher are not in uniform. While the quality of the video is very poor, to my eye I see men with clothes of various colors -- red, blue and white shirts -- closest to the rocket. I was unable to see red berets, and we have to take the opposition's word for where and when this was taken -- there are no identifiable landmarks.
I am coming to the conclusion that it is possible that at some of these rockets were launched by militias that night, and at much closer range than the Kerry report represented. If, indeed, that is the case, these same loyalist militia may have actual loyalties and agendas that are really unknown. It also points to evidence that conflicts with the conclusions drawn that this was carried out under ordered by the regime.
The State Dept report map also appears to be inaccurate or at least inconsistent with other reports that had two launch sites: the military airport at the south of Damascus and the October War Panorama Museum. The location for the latter is shown to be in contested area - the State Dept claimed that all launches were from (unspecified) "regime-controlled territory." Both can't be right. Also, the State Dept report map shows that the launch site and Duma - the most distant target is at least five miles (more like 6-7 on this map). The longest recorded flight of one of these flying truck muffler rockets is about 2 miles.
These rockets are highly inaccurate, and have been used previously for close-in bombardment, not distant attacks with chemical weapons. The Syrian military has modern artillery shells and rockets for that purpose.
These things may have been launched by Hezbollah, which first imported them.
Response to Bolo Boffin (Reply #9)
And you're still at it.
Please share with our community why you think the term, "strongly suggests", should be interpreted as "confirmation".
Thanks.
And please understand my concern.
Sid
thanks for posting these clips.. 
