Sunday 5 May 2013

Chemical Weapons In Syria

It seems that Benjamin Netanyahu has been paying attention to Barack Obama because he has copied his line about 'game changing weapons' as Israeli jets strike at targets close to Damascus.
The game changing weapons were apparently sophisticated Fateh-110 missiles bound for Hezbollah which would bring all of Israel into range but Israel's game changing weapons are different to Americas which where chemical weapons which the Syrian administration was loudly accused of using a few weeks ago in Homs, we were also treated to pictures of civilians foaming at the mouth as proof.
The story, as expected, was not quite as clear cut as that and the accusation has been repeated less loudly as it emerged as reported here on CNN that the Americans own U.S. State Department investigation showed Syrian government did not use chemical weapons against the residents of Homs, but the symptoms shown by the civilians was a 'riot control agent that was not designed to produce lasting effects, but became more dangerous when it was released in dense areas and was not dispersed in the air quickly'.
A senior Turkish diplomat told CNN that Turkey also conducted its own investigation into the chemical weapons allegations and found the claims to be unsubstantiated.
In a unusual twist that has not been heard so much about, it was the Syrian Government who alerted the UN to the rebels using chemical weapons in Allepo's Khan al-Assal which killed 25 people and injured 86 others on March 19, urging the UN to dispatch an investigation team.
The UN agreed to investigate claims and appointed Ahmet Üzümcü, a Turkish diplomat who was previously Turkey’s consul in Aleppo, ambassador in Israel and the representative of Turkey to NATO. Syria and Russia said they did not trust a team led by somone with so many ties to the countries critics and more headlines hit that Syria was blocking a UN investigation into the use of chemical weapons, not mentioning that it was the Syrian Government who requested the investigation in the first place.
While further stories include Syrian soldiers turning up in hospitals suffering from the effects of 'inhaling a strange gas', it is all very reminiscent of the Iraq build-up. 
The Obama administration seem to be playing a game of waiting for proof and international backing may be in part due to the to the lessons learnt from Iraq or it could be playing the same game as it did in Libya, wanting to be seen to be a reluctant partner while Britain and France lead the call for more war.
Now that Israel has become involved, it may force Americas hand to become more involved, it was the Israeli's who bought the chemical weapons 'evidence' which has now been dismissed and by being the aggressor and striking out at the Syrian regime, it may prompt a Syrian response which will open the door for America, France and Britain to change yet another regime and weaken the real enemy Iran in the oil rich Middle East.
Just don't believe that whatever justification is finally settled on, it is for the benefit of the Syrian people because the people they are looking to replace Assad with are the same ones that are presently bringing mayhem to Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

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