Israel Matzav: Experts say nature of attack in Syria unclear, UN inspectors unlikely to be allowed near site

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Experts say nature of attack in Syria unclear, UN inspectors unlikely to be allowed near site

The alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria on Wednesday morning took place 15 minutes from where UN chemical weapons inspectors are located. Here's one of several very graphic videos that have been posted.

Let's go to the videotape.

But the inspectors may never get near the site of Wednesday morning's attack.

The information coming out of the Ghouta region, where the rebels enjoy significant support, is still unconfirmed by independent observers. But videos allegedly taken Wednesday in the area showed Syrians lying on the floor gasping for breath, medics struggling to save infants, and rows of bodies of those who had reportedly died in the attack (warning: the footage above is graphic). Syrian state media denied that chemical weapons had been used, attributing such stories to media channels that "are involved in the shedding of the Syrians' blood and supporting terrorism."

The opposition Local Coordination Committee, however, reported that at least 755 people had been killed in the attack. If that figure is true, what is happening on the outskirts of Damascus today is the worst chemical weapons attack since then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein unleashed poison gas on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988, killing an estimated 5,000 people.

The U.N. chemical weapons inspection team, however, may find itself unable to make the short drive to the Ghouta region to investigate the attack. Under the terms that the team negotiated with President Bashar al-Assad's regime, their movement is severely restricted: They are allowed to visit the northern village of Khan al-Assal, the site of a previous alleged attack, and two other confidential sites. If one of those sites isn't the Ghouta region, the attack may as well have occurred on the other side of the world.

The New York Times reports that experts are not sure what kinds of weapons were used.

Chemical weapons experts said the symptoms depicted in the video were inconsistent with the use of a conventional chemical weapon, like sarin or mustard gas.

Gwyn Winfield, editor of CBRNe World, a professional journal that covers nonconventional weapons, said the images suggested that either a large amount of a crowd control agent like tear gas was used a in a confined space or a weakened form of a more powerful chemical agent was used.

In a statement read by a uniformed officer on Syrian state television, the army denied that chemical weapons had been used east of Damascus and said the reports were part of a “media war” designed to prevent Syria from fighting terrorists. The Syrian government regularly refers to the opposition as terrorists.

The state news service, SANA, also denied that chemical weapons had been used and accused news outlets reporting the allegations of being “partners in the shedding of Syrian blood and supporting terrorism.” It also said the reports sought to “divert the special committee for the investigation of chemical weapons from carrying out its mission.”

The Syrian ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, told the Interfax news agency that the reports were false.

“The Syrian forces have never used, do not use and will not use chemical weapons even if they had them,” Mr. Haddad said. “All reports on this topic are aimed at repeating the Iraqi scenario in Syria, where there were allegedly weapons of mass destruction.”

An activist reached via Skype in Erbeen said the attack began at 2 a.m., when rockets struck surrounding areas. He and his colleagues rushed to evacuate the wounded, and they had to break down doors of homes to get them out.

“I saw many children lying on beds as if they were sleeping, but unfortunately they were dead,” said the activist, who gave his name as Abu Yassin. He added that he believed that the number of dead was in the hundreds.

“We thought this regime would not use chemical weapons, at least these days with the presence of the U.N. inspectors,” he said. “It is reckless. The regime is saying, ‘I don’t care.'”

Another activist, who gave only his first name, Mohammed, said he was in Zamalka when the rockets landed. He said he was helping to evacuate the wounded when his eyes started burning, his vision went blurry and he felt dizzy. He said the dead and wounded were taken to hospitals in a number of nearby districts, making it hard for family members to find them. In Zamalka, many of the dead were laid out in front of a mosque, where someone called over the loudspeakers for residents to come and identify their relatives.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said dozens of people were killed in the attacks, cited local activists as saying that the rockets had spread poison gas and called on the United Nations and other organizations to investigate the attacks and hold those responsible accountable under international law.

Louay Mekdad, a media coordinator for the military wing of the opposition Syrian National Council, said the attack showed that Mr. Assad no longer feared being held accountable by world powers. “Bashar al-Assad doesn’t care any longer about red lines since he has already exceeded too many of them while the world has showed no reaction,” Mr. Mekdad said. “This means the alleged lines never existed.”

He said opposition leaders had asked members of the United Nations team to visit the attack sites but they had said they were waiting for permission from the government.

Everyone in this region knows that a repressive regime like Assad's won't hesitate to use chemical weapons. No one should be surprised.

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, chemical weapons, Damascus, Free Syrian Army, Syrian army