Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons Against Rebels, U.S. and European Official Conclude
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON American and European intelligence analysts now believe that President Bashar al-Assads troops have used chemical weapons against rebel forces in the civil war in Syria, an assessment that will put added pressure on a deeply divided Obama administration to develop a response to a provocation that the president himself has declared a red line.
WASHINGTON American and European intelligence analysts now believe that President Bashar al-Assads troops have used chemical weapons against rebel forces in the civil war in Syria, an assessment that will put added pressure on a deeply divided Obama administration to develop a response to a provocation that the president himself has declared a red line.
According to an internal memorandum circulating inside the government on Thursday, the intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year. President Obama said in April that the United States had physiological evidence that the nerve gas sarin had been used in Syria, but lacked proof of who used it and under what circumstances. He now believes that the proof is definitive, according to American officials.
But a flurry of high-level meetings in Washington this week only underscored the splits within the Obama administration about what actions to take to quell the fighting, which has claimed more than 90,000 people. The meetings were hastily arranged after Mr. Assads troops joined by fighters from the militant group Hezbollah claimed the strategic city of Qusayr and raised fears in Washington that large parts of the rebellion could be on the verge of collapse.
Senior State Department officials have been pushing for an aggressive military response, including airstrikes to hit the primary landing strips in Syria that the government uses to launch the chemical weapons attacks, ferry troops around the country, and receive shipments of matériel from Iran. But White House officials remain wary, and one American official said that a meeting on Wednesday of the presidents senior advisers yielded no firm decisions about how to proceed.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/world/middleeast/white-house-pushes-back-on-bill-clintons-syria-remarks.html
In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)ForgoTheConsequence
(4,867 posts)Seems like its inevitable.
dbackjon
(6,578 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)It is unclear precisely how the Obama administration made its final determination about the chemical weapons use in Syria. According to the internal memorandum, intelligence agencies have high confidence in their assessment, and estimate that between 100 and 150 people have died to date from chemical weapons attacks. The memorandum goes on to say that the conclusion is based on a variety of intelligence.
Our intelligence community has high confidence in that assessment given multiple, independent streams of information, the memorandum said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/world/middleeast/white-house-pushes-back-on-bill-clintons-syria-remarks.html?hpt
what is clear is the Administrations need something to excuse supplying the 'rebels' in order to keep this going
Laelth
(32,017 posts)It has been apparent for some time that the President has been resisting increasing calls to escalate our involvement in the Syrian conflict. Well, when the Big Dog breaks Presidential etiquette and makes a public statement of advice to a sitting President, well, that appears to have been the last straw for President Obama. He couldn't hold out any longer.
This release, if it is coming from the White House, means (imo) that ...
... we are going to war in Syria.
-Laelth
azurnoir
(45,850 posts),keep the rebels supplied just enough to keep this going, because who's allies in the region are being tied up by this?
70,000 dead Syrians means pfft apparently
Laelth
(32,017 posts)Syria is Iran's proxy (and a thorn in Israel's side). We have to take out Syria before we move on Iran (or, so the hawks argue). We are, obviously, deeply invested in the region.
-Laelth
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,271 posts)In major policy shift, president decides to provide military support to Syrian rebels in their fight
It's the no-fly zone, in combination with the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles Assad says he now has, that looks like a flashpoint.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)Clinton also, approved of attacking Iraq. Their proof are rebels, that are losing badly. The Obama Administration is going to stand by their statements, Al Nusar or Al Qaeda in Iraq, doesn't have access to Sarin or the involvement of any country's intelligence agents involed in Syria? They have the opportunity right now to be transparent to the American people. If evidence comes out in the future, it is not true, then it will be Obama's legacy.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)and European Intelligence services are also discrediting the Iraqi Government. Aleppo is in danger of falling to the Assad Forces, which almost puts the stamp on this rebellion if it happens. So the question is, thats what the rebels supporters are really reacting to? I think it is. I think it will escalate, into something Obama want be able to get out of. I don't think the Syrian government and their supporters are just going to let the U.S. invade their territory, with some No Fly Zone. You are going to see some American deaths and probably prisoners. Then they will have to use ground forces. Obama and the Neocons are playing a dangerous game with American lives. If information reveals itself in the future, that the Obama Adminstration lied, regardless of what he has done as President, that will be his legacy. I hope this man puts his hand on his Bible and swear, that he is telling the truth. Obama is President, not Bill Clinton. It will be the biggest cave of his life, and he will be the one living with it.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)...a no-fly zone to keep the USAF out. They have agreements with Syria and they will back them up.
John2
(2,730 posts)military, and this is sad. You have to support American Troops when they go to War, but not those who commence them to it. Obama has been tempting down this neocon road for awhile now. I don't forsee a quick end to this if that is what this man must do. I think it will tarnish his presidency when all is said and done. A No Fly zone is going to cost millions. It will cost lives too. They have not defeated Syria yet, but it will escalate to Iran and others. My sense is, that he will be a failure as a President when all is said and done.
arewenotdemo
(2,364 posts)Only the jihadists and their British, French, and American allies had reason to.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Anyone here who didn't see that particular timing coming from a mile away? Show of hands? Anyone? Anyone at all? Beuller?
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)rastaone
(57 posts)When the rebels started losing. I fucking hate coincidences
bamacrat
(3,867 posts)Iraq, Afghanistan, Lybia, Egypt, now Syria all on the list in the PNAC, only one left is Iran... This civil war was set in motion years ago and now we must lie in the bed we made.
indio55555
(162 posts)Can't wait to see a US flag next to the "black one".
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)France and Britain have been dying to get deeper in, and I believe the US intelligence community about as far as I can throw it.
Ford_Prefect
(7,872 posts)Need I say more?
Suspiciously close on the heels of the Iranian and Russian statements of support for the Regime. Benjamin Netanyahu and the NeoCons can't wait to hit Iran.
This is the Gulf of Tonkin part II a la PNAC, AIPAC and Haliburton.
And what happens to the NSA now?
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)roamer65
(36,744 posts)A full blown Shia-Sunni conflict with the Israelis and their nukes thrown into it.
jessie04
(1,528 posts)yeah right.
that's a joke,obviously
MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)But even if they did, who fucking cares? Let them kill each other, it has nothing to do with us.
arewenotdemo
(2,364 posts)I'm going. Voted for the man 2X. Now he makes me want to puke.
May as well have Wolfowitz in the White House.
Eddie Haskell
(1,628 posts)It's bullshit.