http://www.smh.com.au/world/no-evidence-for-chemical-weapons-in-syria-us-20130423-2id60.html
No evidence for chemical weapons in Syria: US
Date April 24, 2013 - 8:23AM
US officials say they have not seen conclusive evidence supporting an
assertion by Israel's top military intelligence analyst that Syrian
government forces have used chemical weapons against rebels.
Secretary of State John Kerry and spokesmen from the White House and the
Pentagon said investigations had produced no hard proof that Bashar
al-Assad's regime has used toxic chemicals - a step that President Barack
Obama has said would cross a ''red line.''
I don't know yet what the facts are. I don't think anybody knows what they
are yet.
US Secretary of State John Kerry
''We have not come to the conclusion that there has been that use,'' White
House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington. ''It is precisely
because of the seriousness of the use of chemical weapons - and the
seriousness with which the president made clear that that use would be
unacceptable - that it is incumbent upon us and our partners to investigate
thoroughly and validate or verify allegations of chemical weapons use.''
A senior Israeli army officer said the Assad regime was using chemical
weapons, most likely sarin.
"Assad is using chemical weapons in Syria," said Brigadier General Itai
Brun, head of research and analysis in the army's military intelligence
division, in remarks quoted on the army's official Twitter feed.
But US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been unable to confirm the reports in a
phone call on Tuesday.
''I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning from here,'' Mr Kerry
said at a NATO gathering in Brussels. ''I think it's fair to say he was not
in a position to confirm that, so it's up to him and their process as to
when and how they do that.
''I don't know yet what the facts are,'' Mr Kerry said. ''I don't think
anybody knows what they are yet.''
The differing US and Israeli assessments, one official said, may reflect
varying estimates of how close the regime is to collapse, the likelihood
that Islamic extremists could fill the resulting vacuum and the prospects
that Sunni fighters tied to al-Qaeda or Assad's Iranian ally Hezbollah
could inherit some or all of Assad's chemical and biological weapons.
Britain and France have also alleged that Mr Assad's troops have used
chemical weapons.
Mr Obama said when he visited Israel last month that proof Syria used
chemical weapons would change US calculations in dealing with the conflict,
without specifying what actions he would take. US DefenCe Secretary Chuck
Hagel, during his visit to Israel this week, reaffirmed that stance.
General Brun made his remarks to the annual INSS security conference in Tel
Aviv. He said the military had seen evidence indicating the use of chemical
agents on several occasions, including in an incident on March 19.
"One of the characteristics of the recent period is the growing use by the
regime of surface-to-surface missiles, rockets and chemical weapons," he
said.
"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has made use of
deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the
past few months," he said, referring to a March 19 incident in Aleppo
province in which 31 people were killed, apparently by chemical agents.
Evidence could been seen in the physical symptoms suffered by those who had
apparently been exposed to chemical agents, he said.
"The reduced pupils, the foam coming out of the mouth and other additional
signs provide evidence that deadly chemical weapons have been used," he
said, according to a transcript provided by the army.
"Which chemical weapons? Apparently sarin. The regime is also using
chemical weapons that neutralise and are not fatal," he said.
General Brun said the symptoms were observed in photographs taken of the
affected area after the attacks in question.
Bloomberg, AFP
++++
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-cant-confirm-syrian-chemical-use-says-kerry/
Netanyahu can't confirm Syrian chemical use, says Kerry
US Secretary of State tells NATO conference that PM cannot verify report by
IDF 's top analyst that Assad using nerve gas on rebels
By Mitch Ginsburg April 23, 2013, 8:36 pm 1
A victim of an alleged chemical attack is treated by doctors in Aleppo,
Syria, on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. (photo credit: AP/SANA)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not confirm comments made by top
IDF intelligence analyst Brig. Gen. Itai Brun that the Syrian regime has
been using chemical weapons, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on
Tuesday.
"I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning. I think it is fair for
me to say that he was not in a position to confirm that in the conversation
that I had," Kerry told reporters at a NATO conference in Brussels.
Earlier Tuesday, Brun said the IDF was quite certain that President Bashar
Assad deployed chemical weapons against rebel forces in Syria on several
occasions, including in a specific incident on March 19.
"To the best of our understanding, the regime used lethal chemical
weapons," said Brun, head of the Research and Analysis Division at the IDF
Military Intelligence Directorate.
Attending his first meeting of the alliance's governing body, the North
Atlantic Council, as America's top diplomat, Kerry said contingency plans
should be put in place to guard against the threat of a chemical weapons
strike. NATO ally Turkey borders Syria and would be most at-risk from such
an attack. NATO has already deployed Patriot missile batteries in Turkey.
"Planning regarding Syria, such as what (NATO) has already done, is an
appropriate undertaking for the alliance," Kerry told NATO foreign
ministers. "We should also carefully and collectively consider how NATO is
prepared to respond to protect its members from a Syrian threat, including
any potential chemical weapons threat.
Speaking at a security conference in Tel Aviv earlier Tuesday, Brun said
that based on the pictures of victims in Syria — the size of their
pupils, "and the foam coming out of their mouths" — the army believed that
Assad's troops had used the lethal nerve gas sarin as a weapon.
Sarin, used by Saddam Hussein in aerial strikes against Iraqi Kurds in 1988
and in a Japan terror attack in 1995, is a nerve agent that cripples the
respiratory system. It is hundreds of times more toxic than cyanide and is
considered a weapon of mass destruction.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Monday during a visit to Israel
that "the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons would be a game
changer."
At the same press conference, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon described
three red lines for Israel on Syria — the transfer of sophisticated weapons
systems to rogue elements, the violation of Israel's sovereignty along the
border, and the rebels' acquisition of chemical weapons. "We are ready to
operate if any rogue element is going to put his hands [on chemical agents]
or any chemical agents are going to be delivered to rogue elements in the
region," he said.
Brun said that in Syria today there are over 1,000 tons of chemical
weapons, including sarin and VX, both of which can be deployed from
artillery rounds and long-range ballistic missiles.
Chemical weapons have been used on more than one occasion in Syria, and the
world's persistent reluctance to act in response to the use of those
weapons is typical of the major powers' current approach to the tremors
shaking the Middle East, Brun said.
Brun described US hegemony as "dominant but eroding" and said that the
world powers "prefer to focus elsewhere but are sucked into the Middle
East."
Pointing to a slide featuring three images — of ineffectual UN observers in
Syria, of a dead Muammar Gadaffi splayed on the hood of a jeep and of the
P+5 talks with Iran — he said all three depicted situations in which world
involvement "did not attain achievements."
The region, he said, is undergoing "architectural changes" that will likely
not stabilize in the coming years. Dominant among them has been the rise of
Sunni Islamist parties, the shifting nature of global jihad and the
weakening of the Iran-Syria alliance. Worsening economic conditions,
unprecedented sanctions and upcoming national elections in June have
weakened Iran's position and created "an interesting gap" between Iran's
capabilities and its progress in advancing its nuclear program.
"This is not a good time for Iran," he said, adding that the regime would
likely neither forgo its nuclear program nor break out for the bomb in the
coming year.
It is clear, though, that the Sunni Islamist movements are ascendant and
that the Salafist global jihad has changed its outlook. Perched on either
side of Israel, he said, "their agenda has become more local, regional."
And though the dwindling threat of a standard military attack on Israel has
lowered the overall security risk to the country, it has also brought new
challenges to the fore. Referring to the surprise attack in October 1973,
he said, "We also have to be prepared for a cyber Yom Kippur [War]."
The host of the Institute for National Security Studies conference, former
head of military intelligence Amos Yadlin, asked Brun which side in the
internal conflict represented the greater danger in terms of chemical
weapons.
"We should be very, very worried about them falling into the hands of those
who do not conduct gain-loss considerations," Brun said of the jihadist
groups of rebels.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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