Syrian rebels 'use chemical weapon'

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

Syrian state media says rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad have fired a chemical weapon in the north of the country.

"Terrorists launched a missile containing chemical products into the region of Khan al-Assal in the province of Aleppo, killing 15 people, mainly civilians", Sana news agency said.

The government routinely refers to rebels as "terrorists".

Rebels denied the report, accusing the government of using chemical agents.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21841217

[daleo]

1. Makes you wonder

The fact that the BBC is unsure which side used then, if indeed either did, makes you wonder even more.

[pampango]

2. Who's Using Chemical Weapons in Syria Now?

Opposition forces and the Syrian regime agree that there was an attack in the dangerous Aleppo province that killed around 16 people and wounded around 86 on Tuesday. And both are claiming, to some extent, that there were chemical weapons involved. The one thing they can't agree on is who fired the chemical weapons. Then again, can they really agree on anything these days? Anything at all?

Back in July, U.S. officials had warned that Assad was moving and perhaps mobilizing his chemical weapons cache, and those officials were worried that this was a sign that he would begin using them on his own people. (There's no sign that Tuesday's attack would have been used against Syrians so much as against "foreign aggression," according to the Syrian government ...)

In January, Foreign Policy reported that the State Department had evidence that the Syrian government "likely used" chemical weapons on its people in a December attack. ... And if Syrian rebels are in fact using chemical weapons you have to start asking where they came from — and it wouldn't make a lot of sense to turn them on the very people they're seeking to free from an oppressive military regime.

If Silou's analysis is right — that rebels wouldn't even know how to use chemical weapons — it makes the state's report a little harder to believe... as if it wasn't already. And, according to the Lebanese online news site NOW, there are reports from opposition forces that there was suffocation reported in Aleppo following a Scud attack — one of the Syrian regime's favorite weapons. The chemical-weapons accusations come one day after reports that the Syrian regime conducted air strikes into Lebanon, which would represent a "major escalation" in an already compounding sectarian conflict.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/03/chemical-weapons-syria/63264/

Unless there are reports of Syrian military casualties in this attack, it seems more likely that this was a Scud missile targeted at opposition forces around Aleppo with civilians as victims as well. Announcing it as a rebel 'first use' of chemical weapons could be used to justify government use of its stockpile of such weapons - kind of a 'smoking gun' or Gulf of Tonkin incident.

Things do not seem to be going well for Assad's forces. One wonders if the conventional conflict goes badly and endangers Assad's continued rule (which seems possible if not likely at this point) if the temptation to use all the weapons that he has stockpiled will be irresistible.

[John2]

7. You left out

that many of the fighters in the opposition forces were also once part of the Syrian military. I think the report on who the Alawites are would clear up a lot of answers for independent observers. It was the same case with Saddam Hussein when our Government accused him of gassing his own people. Assad's people are the Alawites just like Saddam's was the Sunni.

The situation is similar. The U.S. use to support Assad and Syria actually helped in the War against Iraq. The Sunni population in Syria didn't lift a hand to help their Sunni Brothers in Iraq because Assad's government had tight control. Our Government even used the Government of Syria to get information from prisoners because of Syria's torture procedures. They just shipped them to that country. Are you surprised yet? I don't care what President Obama says, I disagree with U.S. Middle East Policy of meddling on either side.

I don't believe U.S. interests involves human rights for Arabs on either. Our Congress, especially the right wing republicans only sees it to their benefit in protecting Israel. And you know what I think about the current Republican Party image on race. If they don't care about showing their colors on racism here, why would you think they wouldn't express racism anywhere else in this World? What is dividing the Arabs are religion. And you can tell by now what I think about the subject. Religion has caused Wars and intolerance. And we are not just supporting Israel for the Holocaust because there has been many in this World and throughout the History of man. It is also because of religion.

[Xithras]

11. That analysis misses three crucial details here

1) "And if Syrian rebels are in fact using chemical weapons you have to start asking where they came from" SAA jihadist forces overran a chemical weapons storage facility and are in control if both the weapons and delivery systems. Have been for months. And even if they hadn't, a Russian news agency leaked documents back in JANUARY indicating that Qatar (a major supplier of weapons and fighters in Syria) sent memos outlining a plan to smuggle chemical weapons from Libya to Syria. Rather than paraphrasing, I'll just quote them directly:

Russia Today website published leaked documents which show that Qatar suggested smuggling chemical weapons from Libya to Homs in Syria and using them to frame the Syrian Army, in addition to alluding to western preparations for military invasion of Iran.

This was in January. Two months ago. There is no mystery about where the chemical weapons may have come from. The only real question is "which source"?

2) rebels wouldn't even know how to use chemical weapons The vast majority of foreign fighters flowing into Syria today are being professionally trained in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. This is openly admitted by all sides. The rebels are operating tank units, mobile artillery units, and conventional local ground-to-ground rocket systems in some parts of the country. There is no technology gap, and no reason to presume that they are incapable of loading a short range chemical munitions rocket. This was a technology that was DESIGNED to be used by poorly educated soldiers on the battlefield, and isn't particularly difficult to use.

3) "it wouldn't make a lot of sense to turn them on the very people they're seeking to free from an oppressive military regime" Virtually every government and NGO has now acknowledged that Syria has devolved into a sectarian conflict. Nobody is trying to "free" anybody anymore. It's already devolved into a Iraq or Yugoslav style sectarian war, and most of the effective SAA fighters aren't even Syrian at this point. Foreign religious fighters, backed by the Qataris and Saudi's, now dominate the SAA fighting forces and have openly admitted that their goal is to impose a theocratic government on the nation. The politicos at the top may still be talking about "freedom", but the guys with the guns have made it clear that it won't happen. Iraq and Afghanistan CLEARLY demonstrated that jihadist types have NO problems killing civilians to advance their goals. As the foreign jihadists have no particular affinity for the Syrians anyway, few would have any real problem killing Syrian civilians to advance their goals. This isn't even a debatable point, as SAA-aligned groups have OPENLY ADMITTED to dozens of bombings in civilian areas, that have killed HUNDREDS of civilians, in an attempt to "destabilize" the Syrian government. If they'll admit to setting of a car bomb at a crowded market, why would they suddenly get hesitant about firing a missile?


To paraphase another DU poster from yesterday, Syria has become a shit sandwich. The Assad vs. SAA argument is like asking whether you'd like it with mustard or ketchup. The people of Syria have already lost.

[Bosonic]

3. Photographer says Syria attack victims "suffocating"

A Reuters photographer in the Syrian city of Aleppo said victims of what the government said was a chemical weapons attack were suffering breathing problems and people said they could smell chlorine in the air.

Syria's government and rebels accused each other of firing a rocket loaded with chemical agents outside the northern city on Tuesday. A government minister said it killed 16 people and wounded 86.

The victims were sent to four hospitals in government-controlled areas of Aleppo and some were having trouble breathing, the photographer said.

"I saw mostly women and children," he said. "They said that people were suffocating in the streets and the air smelt strongly of chlorine."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/19/us-syria-crisis-chemical-chlorine-idUSBRE92I0GF20130319

[In_The_Wind]

4. Syrian rebels should be stopped from using chemical weapons.

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[ButterflyBlood]

5. Syrian state media, there's a reliable source

After what Assad's daddy did in Hama in 1982, I think I know who's to blame here...

[roxy1234]

8. Breaking

Syrian News reports: Rebels DID NOT use chemical weapons on civilians. In fact the dead people are now ok, turns out they were all faking it

[TwilightGardener]

6. We're going to get sucked in, it's coming.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. Technically, everything is a chemical...

[kelliekat44]

10. Just wait until the truth comes out about who the rebels are, really. nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

12. Al Jazeera's Live Blog is reporting the dead include Syrian soldiers and pro-government militiamen.

They're also quoting doctors at the hospital in Aleppo saying it was not chemical weapons, but more likely something like organic pesticides.

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153