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Post by Admin on Sept 8, 2013 20:13:34 GMT
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said “nobody now debates” intelligence showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for a deadly chemical attack near Damascus as members of Congress remained skeptical a U.S. military attack is warranted. As it considers President Barack Obama’s request for military action, Congress needs to determine “should there be consequences” for the Aug. 21 attack that killed more than 1,400 people, McDonough said today on CNN’s “State of the Union” broadcast. Assad “is responsible for this and should be held accountable,” he said
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Post by Admin on Sept 9, 2013 15:54:33 GMT
Russia proposed on Monday that Syria hand over its chemical weapons to international control in an attempt to avert a U.S. military attack. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, told reporters that he had conveyed the idea to his Syrian counterpart at talks in Moscow and expected “a quick and, I hope, a positive answer.”
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Post by Admin on Sept 10, 2013 7:50:25 GMT
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Post by Admin on Sept 10, 2013 15:48:47 GMT
There is every reason to doubt the seriousness of the proposal by Russia — quickly seconded by Syria — to turn over the Middle Eastern nation's chemical weapons stockpile to the international community for destruction as a way to avert possible U.S. military strikes. The turnaround for those two nations is too abrupt, and the timing too suspect, for us to put much hope into it. However, President Barack Obama is right to pursue it vigorously — not only because military action should be a last resort but also because the proposal offers the chance for a much more comprehensive response to Syrian President Bashar Assad's use of chemical weapons than cruise missile strikes could. Putin has shown every inclination that he still views the United States as a Cold War enemy rather than as a partner. When he and Mr. Obama made opposing cases to world leaders during last week's G-20 meeting in St. Petersburg about taking military action against Syria, the Russian leader appeared to win the argument. He can read the polls and the news reports out of Washington as well as anyone, and he had to know that Mr. Obama was at risk of an embarrassing loss of face. Why he would offer the American president a lifeline — one that has allowed Mr. Obama to claim that his saber rattling had set the conditions for a diplomatic solution — is a mystery. The House vote on authorising President Obama to order military strikes against Syria was postponed after the Russian plan to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control emerged and Obama avoided an embarrassing political defeat that could have undermined his presidency thanks to Putin's mediation. The alternative plan could avert a military strike if chemical weapons are removed from Syria in a verifiable manner but Putin previously proposed a similar plan on Iran's nuclear programme and it failed to materialise because Iran refused to cooperate. It remains to be seen if Syria is really honest about its intention to disarm and Russia also needs to store Syria's chemical weapons in its territory to keep them out of reach of Assad and UN inspectors would have to monitor the transfer of chemical weapons from Damascus to Moscow. www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-syria-20130910,0,2466350.story
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Post by Admin on Sept 10, 2013 20:41:21 GMT
Available evidence strongly suggests that Syrian government forces were responsible for chemical weapons attacks on two Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013. Human Rights Watch analyzed publicly posted YouTube videos from the attacked areas as well as higher-resolution images of weapon remnants provided by a local activist in Eastern Ghouta. Two separate surface-to-surface rocket systems believed to be associated with the delivery of chemical agents were identified. The first type of rocket, found at the site of the Eastern Ghouta attacks, is a 330mm rocket that appears to have a warhead designed to be loaded with and deliver a large payload of liquid chemical agent. The second type, found in the Western Ghouta attack, is a Soviet-produced 140mm rocket that, according to reference guides, has the ability to be armed with one of three possible warheads, including one specifically designed to carry and deliver 2.2 kilograms of Sarin. Three doctors in Ghouta who treated the victims told Human Rights Watch that victims of the attacks consistently showed symptoms including suffocation; constricted, irregular, and infrequent breathing; involuntary muscle spasms; nausea; frothing at the mouth; fluid coming out of noses and eyes; convulsing; dizziness; blurred vision; red and irritated eyes and pin-point pupils (myosis). Some young victims exhibited cyaonis, a bluish coloring on the face consistent with suffocation or asphyxiation. None of the victims showed traumatic injuries normally associated with attacks using explosive or incendiary weapons. Such symptoms, and the lack of traumatic injuries, are consistent with exposure to nerve agents such as Sarin, Human Rights Watch said. There is laboratory evidence that Sarin gas has been used in a previous attack in April on Jobar, near Damascus, when a photographer for Le Monde newspaper who was present at the time later tested for exposure to Sarin.
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