Syria accepts Russian chemical weapons proposal - Interfax

[flpoljunkie]

Source: Reuters

Syria accepts Russian chemical weapons proposal - Interfax

MOSCOW | Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:28am EDT

(Reuters) - The Syrian government has accepted a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control to avoid a possible U.S. military strike, Interfax news agency quoted Syria's foreign minister as saying on Tuesday.

"We held a very fruitful round of talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday, and he proposed an initiative relating to chemical weapons. And in the evening we agreed to the Russian initiative," Interfax quoted the minister, Walid al-Moualem, as telling the speaker of Russia's lower house parliament house in Moscow.

He said Syria had agreed because this would "remove the grounds for American aggression," the report said.

(Writing by Steve Gutterman, Editing by Timothy Heritage)




Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/10/us-syria-crisis-chemical-proposal-idUSBRE9890IZ20130910

[onehandle]

1. Dick Cheney's preserved brain in a jar is livid. nt

[Orrex]

7. You can practically smell the rancid bile boiling.

[ellenrr]

2. this gets more and more interesting.. nt

[PaulaFarrell]

3. and how long beforethe 'red line' gets moved?

i think once the war machnie starts moving it's impossible to stop

[Flying Squirrel]

16. This will be fascinating to watch

I've never seen the war machine stopped at this stage either, so this could be the first time in American history.

[paleotn]

4. Dang, I was right.....

....to me it just seemed like the logical way to solve the problem. With Russia's help, just get the chem weapons out of the equation and Obama out of a foreign policy quagmire relatively unscathed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3573292

Now, I would hope we use the money we were going to blow on cruise missiles to assist in the Syrian refugee crises in Jordan and elsewhere and try to broker a peaceful solution to the civil war.

[another_liberal]

5. Oh no they don't!

Nice try, but that will simply not be acceptable at all! It is obvious that Syria has completely failed to say "Simon says."

The whole deal is off, and the strikes are back on for tomorrow.

[durablend]

8. Sadly I tend to agree...

How does one get rid of everything they have without the other party wondering if they hid some of it?

[RiverNoord]

17. Seconded.

What the regime has actually done is essentially admitted that its military did carry out the chemical weapons massacre. So... they apparently agree to hand over their stockpiles to Russia...

1) If the command for the attack didn't come from the top, how is it possible that the military will willingly turn over all of its chemical munitions? There are units that exist solely for the purpose of chemical weapons storage and deployment. Are they really going to just roll over?

2) I'm not a warmongerer - I was against the debacle in Iraq the minute I learned it was even being discussed. I despise the 'GWOT' and the immense power that the secret surveillance/covert military action/drone strikes complex has obtained as a result of its implementation. However, this situation does bother me. There's a lot of talk on DU about 'al-Qaeda' being involved in the rebellion. Well, there are a lot of highly motivated and capable fighters on the rebel side that want to impose extremely strict interpretations of Islamic law in whatever areas they manage to control. That's true. Does that mean we should stand by when the regime side of a civil war deploys lethal chemical munitions in a heavily civilian area in the midst of the conflict? I don't think it does. American foreign policy has almost never been much influenced by morals. Then again, we did end a vicious conflict on the doorstep of Europe some time ago, and, morally, it was probably what had to be done. We've spent so much energy since 9/11 becoming the bogeyman of the world - I think this is a moment that requires careful examination of our national moral compass.

[ellenrr]

6. ok, now can the US put all ITS chemical weapons under int'l control... nt

[Cryptoad]

11. we will after we start using them on our own citizens,,,heh? nt

[cstanleytech]

13. Mmm last time I checked the US is in the process of destroying them as per

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._chemical_weapons_topics

So why exactly does the US need to hand them over if they are already being destroyed?

[7962]

18. Thank you and Cryptoad above you

I get so tired of the US being equated with countries like Syria

[lumpy]

22. If you are really interested, go look it up on the internet. Easy just ask for chemical weapons USA

or similar wording.

[arewenotdemo]

9. This has the potential to make rebel false flag CW ops

a bit more challenging.

[Cryptoad]

10. Well then DO IT!!!! nt

[underpants]

12. Good n/t

[Bradical79]

14. Hope they follow through

and the U.N. is given the ability to verify.

[Wolf Frankula]

15. Now the Rebels Have to Give up Their Chemical Weapons

Come on, al-Qaeda and friends. Give 'em up.

Wolf

[7962]

19. Yay! Since the Russians and Syrians are always trustworthy, the crisis should be over soon!!

I guess the sarcasm is obvious.

[cstanleytech]

20. In this I actually do trust the Russians.

Why do I trust them? Because it causes Syria to have to rely more on Russia and Russia can come across to them as their "friend" plus it makes the area more stable for Russian interests so its a win win for Russia thus Russia is actually more likely than not to do this.
Also in the event that the Syrian government would be overthrown and the rebels were to win the Russians can (and probably would) point to the chemical weapons as evidence that they are a friend that the rebels can trust because they kept the chemical weapons from being used again.

[7962]

21. But theyve already said this only happens if action is off the table

Thats like telling your parents you'll behave if they promise not to punish you. Of course, we could still do whatever we wanted regardless, if they didnt follow through. If this plan actually happens, it's a big win for the US and Obama.

[lumpy]

23. Truth in your post- Russia has a lot of and more influence in Syria, the US doesn't.