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

[unhappycamper]

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

Intercepts caught Assad rejecting requests to use chemical weapons, German paper says
Posted on Monday, September 9, 2013
by Matthew Schofield | McClatchy Foreign Staff

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.”

[Democracyinkind]

1. The new line is "Even so, Assad is responsible"

Of course, we do not adhere to that standard ourselves, but then, we've always been better at knowing what's good for others while being clueless about what is good for us.

[unhappycamper]

2. I like your sigline. n/t