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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
3,600 showed 'neurotoxic symptoms' in Syria
2013-08-25
[OMANOBSERVER] Around 3,600 patients displaying "neurotoxic symptoms" flooded into three Syrian hospitals on the day of alleged chemical weapons attacks, and 355 of them died, Doctors without Borders (MSF) said. The victims all arrived within less than three hours of each other, and MSF director of operations Bart Janssens said the pattern of events and the reported symptoms "strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent". "Medical staff working in these facilities provided detailed information to MSF doctors regarding large numbers of patients arriving with symptoms including convulsions, excess saliva, pinpoint pupils, blurred vision and respiratory distress," he said. Syrian opposition groups have accused President Bashar al Assad's forces of launching massive chemical attacks near Damascus on August 21 and killing as many as 1,300 people.

The Syrian government has strongly denied
No, no! Certainly not!
 those allegations, but has yet to accede to demands that UN inspectors already in the country be allowed to visit the sites of the alleged attacks. There has been no independent verification of the number of dead, and the medical humanitarian organization is the first independent source to report such a high toll from the alleged attacks. MSF provides drugs, medical equipment and technical support to the three hospitals near Damascus. "MSF can neither scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms nor establish who is responsible for the attack," said Janssens. "However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
 the reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events -- characterised by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers -- strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent."

MSF said patients had been treated using atropine, a drug it had supplied and which is used to treat neurotoxic symptoms. It has sent another 7,000 vials of the drug to facilities in the area and said it is making treatment of neurotoxic symptoms part of all its Syria programmes. General director Christopher Stokes called for independent Sherlocks to be given immediate access. "This latest attack and subsequent massive medical need come on top of an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, characterised by extreme violence, displacement, and deliberate destruction of medical facilities," he said. "In the case of such extreme violations of humanitarian law, humanitarian assistance cannot respond effectively and becomes meaningless itself."
Posted by:Fred

#23  Look - a nasty nym.

*Yawn*

Pathetic. And totally unimaginative.

-8.
Posted by: Barbara   2013-08-25 21:16  

#22  ...start? Why do you think the Japanese are building aircraft carriers escort vessels? They know.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2013-08-25 20:33  

#21  Assad possible reason to use Chemical Weapons
It is effectively a giant "fuck you" to the international community. Assad is confident, maybe overconfident. He recaptured quasyar and is doing well in Homs. At this point it is doubtful that the rebels can prevail, even with US support. His allies are firmly standing by him, and provide a steady stream of material and "moral support" in the form of public statements of support (if the number of Russia today posts on worldnews is any indication, it's working). The US's international reputation is at a low right now, with the spying scandal and events in turkey and Egypt. Assad, abd by extension Russia china and Iran, know that a Syrian intervention is extremely unpopular in the us, and so the cw attack is a way to "call the US's bluff", so to speak, whike getting a military advantage. If Obama goes back on his word here, the US's reputation abroad will be further damaged, and American allies and potential allies may start to doubt America's commitment to their protection.

Best not try using an antagonizing name or your remark, no matter how brilliant you think it is will be scrubbed.
Posted by: Lame Name   2013-08-25 20:29  

#20  Speaking of which - unless it's been removed, that schtuff in the Bekaa Velley ought to be fairly unstable or deteriorated by now.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-08-25 19:04  

#19  The way the Assad government uses Lebanon's population as a shield for their anti-Israel rocket park, for example.

That would be Hesb'allah, which is more an Iranian patsy than a Syrian one.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-08-25 19:02  

#18  I don't know what happened to the italic tags I thought I'd put in there.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2013-08-25 16:58  

#17  Arab groups have long situated weapons and weapons facilities among the population.

The way the Assad government uses Lebanon's population as a shield for their anti-Israel rocket park, for example.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2013-08-25 16:29  

#16  Yeah, there's something about "3600 dead from nerve gas!" that just grabs the headlines, dunno why...
Posted by: Steve White   2013-08-25 16:07  

#15  My guess is that the Syrian government shelled the rebels, whose hoard of chemical weapons was placed among the civilian population either to shield them from attack or in hopes that an artillery attack would result in significant civilian casualties.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2013-08-25 16:06  

#14  Not if you're trying to buy bandwidth.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-08-25 15:27  

#13  If you gonna use WMDs why waste it on non-combatants? Wouldn't you go for the bosses?
Posted by: BrerRabbit   2013-08-25 14:47  

#12  Were the casualties from groups affiliated with AQ or from "competitors?"
Posted by: James   2013-08-25 13:45  

#11  the UN and World Net Daily are teaming up?
Posted by: Frank G   2013-08-25 12:26  

#10  Still believe that Jabhat al-Nusra (or some other fun-luvin' Al-Q or worse group) is responsible for this as a way to put international heat on the regime

There's a strong case to be made for that.

Al Qaeda has long been developing a chemical warfare program.

There are a significant number of Syrian rebels, besides al-Nusra, allied with AlQ.

Arab groups have long situated weapons and weapons facilities among the population.

Besides their use as shields, Arab groups have also used the population as props, like in Gaza and Egypt.

The question remains whether the release was a result from battle damage, an industrial accident, or a deliberate release.
Posted by: Pappy   2013-08-25 12:13  

#9  Syria will now permit UN WND inspection teams.

The agreement to allow U.N. access came Sunday during a meeting in Damascus between the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, and the U.N.Â’s top disarmament official, Angela Kane, the government said.

In a statement, the Syrian foreign minister said his government was ready to cooperate with the U.N. to “expose the false allegations of the terrorist groups accusing the Syrian forces of using chemical weapons.” Syrian authorities routinely refer to armed rebels as terrorists.

Syrian motives aside, I can't see the Russians getting too excited about permitting UN inspections, had the Syrian Army or Air Force been involved.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-08-25 11:40  

#8  Still believe that Jabhat al-Nusra (or some other fun-luvin' Al-Q or worse group) is responsible for this as a way to put international heat on the regime.

Based on Srs. Billy & Kozlowski's comments, kind of more inclined in that direction.

Especially with the Ruskis involved and controlling the WMD capability of Assad's forces. Had they been involved as they were with Sadaam, it would have worked a tad better.

Next up, blame the Juice.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2013-08-25 11:28  

#7  ...I'm with Bangkok Billy and Grom - the numbers just don't add up for what they should be for an honest-to-God chemical attack against unprotected people. Of course, that leaves us with a bunch of other Clancy-grade horrors:

A) Does this mean that whoever fired the damn things had no idea what they were doing?

B) Is it possible that whoever made the stuff didn't know what they were doing?

C) Could the chemicals used have been diluted to spread out a limited supply?

D) Were the chemicals used bought by whoever used them from a Completely And Utterly Reliable Third Party Who Is Known For Their Quality And Workmanship?

I've got a whole bunch more, but I don't want to use up too much bandwidth.

Mike

Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2013-08-25 10:23  

#6  Bad falafel
Posted by: Frank G   2013-08-25 09:51  

#5  Perhaps someone at the Al Muthanna State Establishment, north of Baghdad should be contacted.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-08-25 08:29  

#4  We start with "1300 dead of nerve gas". Go to "3,600 showed 'neurotoxic symptoms'". End with "told you to boil the water!"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2013-08-25 08:09  

#3  I'm still skeptical. Looks like a 10% mortality rate. Mil grade VX/GB dispersed to an unprotected population - much higher death rate IMNSHO. Looks to be a G series non-persistent agent. Even with NAAKs, unless you get to them quickly, it does not end well.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy   2013-08-25 07:57  

#2  I'll have to confer with TW, but I believe we can safely rule out the saucisson sec.

Champ could have been an instant hero, had he shipped the rebels a few thousand atropine injectors. Of course one must then assume he would have actually known what a "neurotoxin" and atropine actually are.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-08-25 02:05  

#1  OK, MSF is a vaguely reputable organization so we have some confirmation the event actually occurred and wasn't just a massive fauxtography project. That leaves us with Who Dunnit? Maybe I'm cynical, but seems to me the rebels have the most to gain here.
Posted by: SteveS   2013-08-25 00:13  

00:00