Article

2012-07-23 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria says will use chemical weapons if attacked

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Posted by Beavis 2012-07-23 08:24|| || Front Page|| [8 views ] Top

#1 Use them or not, their provenance will be clear pretty soon. Can't wait.

Posted by Richard Aubrey 2012-07-23 10:29|| 2012-07-23 10:29|| Front Page Top

#2 Use them or not, their provenance will be clear pretty soon. Can't wait.

Posted by Richard Aubrey 2012-07-23 10:30|| 2012-07-23 10:30|| Front Page Top

#3 The mandarin class ignored rhem for a decade, they ate capable of ignoring much more.

Posted by Thing from Snowy Mountain 2012-07-23 10:59|| 2012-07-23 10:59|| Front Page Top

#4 MSM Headline. Bush blamed for not sorting out weapons we said didnt exist.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2012-07-23 11:19|| 2012-07-23 11:19|| Front Page Top

#5 All they have to do declare the rebels to be foreigners. They could probably even say with some truth that the rebels are receiving outside help.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-07-23 13:18|| 2012-07-23 13:18|| Front Page Top

#6 They got the gas transferred from Iraq, right before we invaded.

Posted by texhooey 2012-07-23 13:40|| 2012-07-23 13:40|| Front Page Top

#7 So the world has reached a logical impasse. Syria will only use its WMD if attacked from the outside. But the USA and Israel cannot wait until the Syrian Gov't collapses in order to secure(or destroy) those weapons. Hence the West is forced to act before a collapse. And the Syrians will see this as a foreign attack. The final outcome .. is anyone's guess.

Posted by Raider 2012-07-23 14:33|| 2012-07-23 14:33|| Front Page Top

#8 I suspect Syria had its own gas and has had it for some time.

Posted by rjschwarz 2012-07-23 14:38|| 2012-07-23 14:38|| Front Page Top

#9 It's not as big a deal for Israel and the US. Israel has already demonstrated that it can defeat the Syrian air defense system and launch a strike mission deep into Syrian air space without loss or regard.

That was back when the Syrians weren't, you know, distracted.

The Israelis and the Americans have gotten better since. The Syrians have not. Their Russian air defense system is junk.

So launching airstrikes, or air insertion of commando teams, etc., are actions that would not be deterred simply because the Syrians could shoot back. As the Syrians have demonstrated, they can't.

I don't say this to be cocky, and I'm mindful that things can go wrong (e.g., Desert One). But if we or Israel really, really, really want to take down the Syrian WMD capability, we have opportunities.

Posted by Steve White 2012-07-23 14:50|| 2012-07-23 14:50|| Front Page Top

#10 And so I guess - that's the questino of the day. The USA and Israel can "take down" the WMD capability of the Syrians. But can we really take it down 100%??? Because a success rate of 99.5% could still be a FAIL ... if just a few of those weapons survive and fall into the wrong hands.

Posted by Raider 2012-07-23 15:18|| 2012-07-23 15:18|| Front Page Top

#11 Because a success rate of 99.5% could still be a FAIL ... if just a few of those weapons survive and fall into the wrong hands.

But less of a fail than if all of them do, Raider.

Posted by trailing wife 2012-07-23 15:26|| 2012-07-23 15:26|| Front Page Top

#12 Syria says will use chemical weapons if attacked
Assad: "I'm looking at you Turkey"

Posted by tipper 2012-07-23 16:27|| 2012-07-23 16:27|| Front Page Top

#13 cant beleive this guy is just laughing at everyone, its time to do something, who cares what russia says.

Posted by rant 2012-07-23 17:37|| 2012-07-23 17:37|| Front Page Top

#14 I feel like I am watching old reruns on the TV.
Saddam, Qaddafi now Assad.

Posted by Dale 2012-07-23 18:50|| 2012-07-23 18:50|| Front Page Top

#15 While the threat confirms how much trouble the regime is in, I think its likely he will use chemical weapons to further ethnic cleansing or perhaps in an attack on the refugee camps in Turkey. The latter unlikely but possible.

Posted by phil_b 2012-07-23 19:49|| 2012-07-23 19:49|| Front Page Top

#16 This whole Syria situation is looking like Libya all over again. It is not the so-called freedom fighters struggling for peace and freedom. That being said, it seems more to me like the Great Game.

So my main question is: What is there that the US govt is required to do to protect our national interests?

One of our national interests is to prevent the spread of chemical and biological weapons if Pencil Neck falls and his regime does indeed possess these weapons. These weapons in the wrong hands can do us harm. So it seems to me that this issue would be one of very few that we really need to address. If we do, it should be executed in a very limited operation limited to that task. Israel has a real dog in this fight, more than the US. They need to step up to the plate.

So far as Syria regime change is concerned, that is not our national objective, with respect to the resources of our govt. The WMD issue is, with respect to weapons falling into the wrong hands that can come back to harm us.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2012-07-23 20:49|| 2012-07-23 20:49|| Front Page Top

#17 This guy is hilarious. Like anyone would attack him when they can send guns to the rebel alliance.

No, what he will do retreat and "lose control" of some sort of nasty shi4, like Marburg or even Cholera. Then he will say something like, "It's a damn shame those ignorant bastards opened a can of whoop-a$$ on themselves. They should have known better. I am so sorry they are all dead now."

Posted by rammer 2012-07-23 20:55|| 2012-07-23 20:55|| Front Page Top

#18 These WMDs don't exist. MSNBC said so

Posted by Frank G 2012-07-23 21:00|| 2012-07-23 21:00|| Front Page Top

#19 Alaska Paul: good point. We should be working to dethrone Pencilneck as I believe that's in our best interests long-term. But we should be thinking two to three moves ahead so as to understand what our best interests are (beyond the nebulous, feel-good phrases like 'democracy') and how to get from here to there. That's something Champ doesn't get.

Posted by Steve White 2012-07-23 21:20|| 2012-07-23 21:20|| Front Page Top

#20 "They need to step up to the plate." Yes, they are being pushed now. In and out is not likely this time. I wish them the best but I see a protracted event this time. Unintended consequences. Russia has spent allot of money on their equipment, many upgrades. This looks like a pressure cooker with no relief valve. Should Russia secure the WMD product as they did for Saddam we might see Putin do that to remove a hot button issue. Then work a deal with Assad.

Posted by Dale 2012-07-23 21:31|| 2012-07-23 21:31|| Front Page Top

#21 Fire can purify. Fire like a star's more... For Marburg or something it's worth considering with a storage depot at ground zero.

Posted by Water Modem 2012-07-23 22:46|| 2012-07-23 22:46|| Front Page Top

#22 You know, dead is dead. There is a morality play to be written about stopping a Marburg epidemic with nuclear fire.

I am not going to write it, but psychologists have already plowed that field with their questions about pushing people into or out of the way of a runaway train.

I hope that the rest of us can forgive the French for nuking the whole place.

Posted by rammer 2012-07-23 23:17|| 2012-07-23 23:17|| Front Page Top

#23 Link Barak was more specific: âIâve ordered the Israeli military to prepare for a situation where we would have to weigh the possibility of carrying out an attack against Syrian weapons arsenals.â He told reporters.

âThe state of Israel cannot accept a situation where advanced weapons systems are transferred form Syria to Lebanon.â

Posted by Water Modem 2012-07-23 23:52|| 2012-07-23 23:52|| Front Page Top

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21:48 Richard Aubrey
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21:09 crosspatch
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