When I first heard the charges that the Syrian government had used nerve gas against rebel forces, I disbelieved them. It didn’t make any sense to me that Bashar al-Assad would do something that was not only wicked but foolish. Then I gradually became convinced there is something to the charges. Who else but the Syrian government would have the capability to launch such attacks?
Now I don’t know what to believe.
Letter Detailing Syria’s Case to Congress Has More Verifiable Claims Than U.S. Case to Date by Brad Friedman for the BRAD BLOG (which I have added to my Blogs I Like page)
Mohammed Jihad al-Lahman, Speaker of the Syrian People’s Assembly, wrote a letter to members of the U.S. Congress appealing to them to refrain from attacking his country.
Among other things he offered evidence that the gas attacks were made by the Syrian rebel forces. He said that Turkish and Iraqi authorities captured rebel forces with nerve gas weapons, that Syria appealed to the United Nations back in March to investigate nerve gas attacks by rebels and that the Syrian government turned over evidence of rebel use of nerve gas to the Russian and Chinese embassies.
All these allegations can easily be checked, and ought to be checked before any congressional vote.
Syria crisis: Obama welcomes Russia’s chemical weapons proposal by Dan Roberts and Julian Borger of The Guardian.
The Russian government called on Syria’s leaders to place their chemical weapons under international control and eventually to destroy them. Since Syria depends on Russian backing, there is a good chance this will be accepted.
It provides a good opportunity for Barack Obama and John Kerry to climb back off the limb they’ve gotten out on. I wonder how much the crisis is due to President Obama having said the use of chemical weapons is a “red line”, believing when he said it that the line never would be crossed.
However, if Bashar al-Assad agrees to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, some good will have come from President Obama’s threats. Assuming the agreement is carried out, of course.
Russia balks at French plan for U.N. Security Council resolution on Syrian chemical arms by the Washington Post [added later]
It turns out that the Russian government would “welcome” the Syrian government handing over its chemical arms to an international authority, but aren’t offering to take responsibility for implementing this and wouldn’t support a threat of military action if they didn’t comply. So less has changed than I thought.
How U.S. Grand Strategy in Syria Led to the Idea of Missile Strikes by Juan Cole for Informed Comment.
Juan Cole, a Middle East historian, wrote that there are two factions among the Syrian rebels—radical Sunni Muslims linked to Al Qaeda in the north of Syria, backed by Turkey and Qatar, and another less radical faction in the south of Syria backed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United States.
According to Cole, the purpose of the planned U.S. attack is to weaken the Syrian forces on the southern front and help the rebel faction favored by the United States.
Can You Pass the Qatar Quiz? by Jeffrey Rudolph for Informed Comment.
How did the tiny Persian Gulf nation of Qatar come to play such a big part in Middle East power politics? This guest post on Informed Comment helps to explain.
Obama Warned on Syrian Intel by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity on World News Daily.
A group of anti-war U.S. retired intelligence professionals also think the gas attacks are probably a false flag operation intended to draw the United States into the war.
While I’m on the subject of bogus charges, I think the charge that Syrian rebels ate human hearts is probably a fabrication. RT News is an arm of the Russian government, which has been known to put out disinformation for its own purposes.
Trying to Make Sense of Syria? Here’s Our Essential Reader by the staff of Bill Moyer’s Journal.
Do warmongers dream of playing chess? by Pepe Escobar for Asia Times.
The (farcical) emperor is naked by Pepe Escobar for Asia Times.
Al Qaeda’s air force still on stand-by by Pepe Escobar for Asia Times. [added 9/11/13]
No Need for UN in Syria’s Chemical Weapons Solution by Moon of Alabama.
How Putin Saved Obama, Congress and the European Union from Further Embarrassing Themselves on Syria by Juan Cole for Informed Comment.
Is the Syrian Crisis Over? by John Stoehr for the Washington Spectator.
Tags: Syria, Syria Civil War, Syria Intervention, Syria Poison Gas, Syrian Rebels
Phil Ebersole's Blog 
Leave a Reply