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posted by martyb on Friday June 30 2017, @08:38AM   Printer-friendly
from the man's-inhumanity-to-man dept.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-attack-trump.html

American officials have seen chemical weapons activity at a Syrian air base that was used in the spring nerve gas attack on rebel-held territory, the Defense Department said on Tuesday, scrambling to explain what prompted a White House statement a day earlier that Syria would "pay a heavy price" if it carried out another one.

Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that what looked like active preparations for a chemical attack were seen at Al Shayrat airfield, which was struck in April by American cruise missiles two days after the Syrian government dropped bombs loaded with toxic chemicals in northern Syria. Another Defense Department official said that an aircraft shelter at Al Shayrat that had been hit by an American Tomahawk missile was being used for the preparation.

Syrian and Russian officials rejected the accusation, calling the White House statement a provocation.

Also at NBC and The Hill.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 30 2017, @02:26PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 30 2017, @02:26PM (#533452)

    I actually see this as more of a "heads-up" by the US; a way to say that they can see what the Syrians are doing, that they know the Syrians lied about destroying their chemical weapons, and that if the Syrians go through with a chemical attack that they can expect to be on the receiving end of another round of cruise missiles.

    Oh yeah, just like how we showed Saddam Hussein that we knew exactly how many weapons of mass destruction he had.

  • (Score: 2) by zocalo on Friday June 30 2017, @07:44PM

    by zocalo (302) on Friday June 30 2017, @07:44PM (#533646)
    Potentially, yes, just like that. That's the dilemma I mentioned in the last sentence - if the US is proactive and the weapons don't exist (unlikely after the OPCW report), or they did but any evidence was destroyed in the strike / covered up after the fact, then it's open to being spun as Iraq all over again. If, on the other hand, they wait until the Syrians launch another attack then they'll probably have their proof (Syrian allies denials not withstanding), but also dead civillians and a media asking why the attack couldn't have been prevented. Either way, it's going to be heavily spun by the media on all sides to denounce the Syrian or US goverments and militaries, as required. The best solution - for both sides - is the one I think the US is pressing for; that the Syrians will think again on chemical weapons and visibly stand down from whatever preparations they are doing before the US feels they need to make a decision.

    Not that that's going to help the civillians on the ground all that much, of course. Even if Assad's regime is planning on a chemical attack and decides to think again, they're not going to call off the attack altogether - they'll just use conventional munitions instead, and since that's business as usual in Syria the chances are pretty good it won't even make the news, let alone be connected with the US' threat.
    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!