Israel Matzav

Syrian rebels claim Assad used nerve gas

Syrian rebel forces have told al-Jazeera that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad used poisonous gas against them on Sunday.

The regime of embattled Syrian president Bashar Assad gassed rebel forces in the battleground city of Homs, anti-government activists told Al Jazeera on Sunday. If the unconfirmed report is true — and that’s a huge if — the chemical attack could signal the biggest escalation yet of 20-month-old Syrian civil war, with serious implications for the rest of the world.

Danger Room first reported in early December that the Assad regime was preparing some of its nerve weapons for possible use against rebel forces. Washington and its allies have repeatedly said they would not tolerate such an attack. “This would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned previously.

Even Sergei Lavrov — foreign minister of Assad’s ally, Russia — called the use of chemical weapons “political suicide.”

Al Jazeera reported that seven people died after inhaling a gas sprayed by government forces in a part of Homs held by the rebel Free Syrian Army. “We don’t know what this gas is but medics are saying it’s something similar to sarin,” rebel Raji Rahmet Rabbou told the Qatar-based news organization.

The “poisonous material” was deployed by government warplanes, Haaretz reported, citing a rebel statement. The Assad regime, meanwhile, is blaming the rebels for the attack.

Al Jazeera posted two videos it said were obtained from “a field clinic in the city.” The graphic videos indeed appear to depict gasping victims of what could be a nerve agent attack.  Again, however, the origins and contents of these videos have yet to be verified by other sources.

Let's go to the videotape.



Read the whole thing.

Even if Assad did use nerve gas, I cannot see Obama acting or leading anyone else to act. After all, it's just Muslims killing Muslims. 

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Bashar al-Assad, chemical weapons, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:23 PM