"Also Friday, the international mission to rid Syria of its chemical weapons said in a statement that a 12th batch of chemicals had been removed from the country....
Michael Luhan of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, was speaking in the Spanish port of Rota, where US authorities showed reporters around a ship, the Cape Ray, equipped to neutralize Syrian chemicals. The Cape Ray’s crew will treat the most toxic material, monitored day and night by OPCW specialists. The waste will then be destroyed on land. A senior American officer stressed that the Cape Ray will not release any chemical waste into the Mediterranean. Rear Admiral Robert Burke of the US Sixth Fleet said the process is designed to ensure no waste escapes....
The fact that they stress it makes me think that is where it is going.
In a separate development Monday, the international watchdog overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons reported that the Assad government completed delivery of another shipment, which brings the total to almost two-thirds of its arsenal. The country has now delivered a bit more than 57 percent of its most dangerous, so-called priority one, chemicals, and 82 percent of less toxic, priority two chemicals, said Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons."
How odd then that this should happen as Syria is fully cooperating?
Factions in Syria exchange blame for new gas attack
It's just not taking any more, sorry, even if it were true. No more wars no matter what the reason. No more wars, period.
On April 11, Assad’s government and rebels reported a poison gas attack in Kfar Zeita, an opposition-held village in Hama province some 125 miles north of Damascus. Both sides blamed each other for the attack, though details remain murky and Western governments and the United Nations have yet to confirm what happened. Sunday, President Francois Hollande of France told Europe 1 radio station that he has ‘‘several elements’’ suggesting recent use of chemical weapons in Syria, but no definitive proof. Claims of chemical weapons attacks come days ahead of an April 27 deadline for Assad’s government to have handed over Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles for destruction."
A false flag waving if I ever saw one -- if it even happened at all!!
Personally, I'm a little insulted the agenda-pu$hing propaganda pre$$ and the government it fronts for would attempt to recycle this piece of garbage again!
"In Washington on Monday, the State Department said it is looking into whether a toxic chemical, probably chlorine, was recently deployed in areas of Syria that are controlled by rebel forces, the Associated Press reported. Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said officials were still trying to determine what happened in the village of Kafr Zita."
"Syrian activists accuse military of chlorine attacks" by ZEINA KARAM and DIAA HADID | Associated Press April 24, 2014
BEIRUT — Syrian government forces have attacked rebel-held areas with poisonous chlorine gas in recent weeks and months, leaving men, women, and children coughing, choking, and gasping for breath, according to Associated Press interviews with more than a dozen activists, medics, and residents on the opposition side.
Why would they do that when they are cooperating with the OPCW and are ahead of schedule for removal?
Syria flatly denied the allegations, and they have yet to be confirmed by any foreign country or international organization. But if true, they highlight the limitations of the global effort to rid President Bashar Assad’s government of its chemical weapons.
The propaganda doesn't get any better than that! But if!
Witnesses near Damascus and in a central rebel-held village told the AP of dozens of cases of choking, fainting, and other afflictions from inhaling fumes that some said were yellowish and smelled like chlorine cleanser. Some of those interviewed said they believe the gas was responsible for at least two deaths.
They said the fumes came from hand grenades and helicopter-dropped ‘‘barrel bombs,’’ which are crude containers packed with explosives and shrapnel.
Activists have posted videos similar, though on a far smaller scale, to those from last August’s chemical weapons attack near Damascus that killed hundreds of people and nearly triggered US airstrikes against Syria. The new footage depicts pale-faced men, women and children coughing and gasping at field hospitals.
Turns out those videos were staged and scripted hoaxes, just like the lesbian Syrian blogger turned out to be a guy in London.
The UN Security Council called for an investigation Wednesday. Council members expressed ‘‘grave concern’’ over the allegations, said U. Joy Ogwu, council president and Nigeria’s UN ambassador.
Nigeria was holding the presidency when the kidnapped girls hoax was presented? Just another piece of the puzzle.
It’s an accusation that carries high stakes, and the Syrian opposition has an interest in pushing such claims in hopes of spurring the world to take stern action against Assad, who has been locked in a civil war for three years and faces a Sunday deadline for handing over all his chemical weapons for destruction.
About as close to saying it was/is a false flag as my agenda-pushing paper is gonna get.
Chlorine is a potentially lethal chemical with a multitude of ordinary civilian uses, including laundry bleach and swimming-pool disinfectant. In high concentrations, it can attack the lungs and asphyxiate victims.
While chlorine was first deployed on the battlefield in World War I, it is no longer officially considered a warfare agent and is not among the chemicals declared by Syria. It is not as effective at killing as sarin — the nerve agent that was apparently used last summer — and experts say it is difficult to achieve high concentrations of chlorine by dropping it from the air.
No pun intended, but this charge is stinking more all the time! Someone went to the square and set off an explosive device, didn't they?
Still, any toxic chemical is considered to be a chemical weapon if used for military purposes.
USrael uses white phosphorous, but I don't see the world powers that be fussing.
Consequently, Syria’s use of chlorine-filled bombs, if confirmed, would be a violation of the chemical weapons treaty that Assad’s government signed last year.
And a cause for war, chi bono!
On Wednesday, Syria’s UN ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, said his government categorically denied the use of chlorine gas.
Because they didn't do it.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday that officials were still trying to determine what happened. On Sunday, French President Francois Hollande told Europe 1 radio station there were ‘‘elements’’ suggesting recent use of chemical weapons, but no proof. Both countries bluntly accused the Syrian government of using sarin against civilian areas in the August attack near Damascus.
Kind of an important thing, doncha think?
‘‘I can understand the reluctance to undertake any firm action right now because the big priority is to get the other chemicals out of the country,’’ said Jean Pascal Zanders, an independent chemical weapons consultant and disarmament expert. Zanders, who remains skeptical about the claims emerging from Syria pending more proof, said nobody wanted to upset the Assad government to the point that it would cease all cooperation.
As I am skeptical of this claim.
--more--"
Related:
"Meanwhile, the international chemical weapons watchdog announced it was sending a team to investigate recent allegations about the use of chlorine gas in the war."
"There were also signs of disarray within the Western coalition Tuesday, as France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, expressed regret that the Obama administration had decided against using force after an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in the Damascus area.
You could have done it yourself and had the French people give you the Louie XVI treatment, so shaddup.
Though a US military strike was called off when Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons, Fabius said there were indications that Syria had since waged 14 chemical attacks.
“We are examining the samples that were taken,” he said.
No evidence?
France, Fabius indicated, had been prepared to use force last year as part of an US-led coalition, but had not wanted to act alone. Had such a military strike been carried out, Fabius said, “we feel that it would have changed many things.”
How do you say hypocrite in French?
While France had indicated chagrin over the Obama administration’s military pullback on Syria, it was unusual for France’s top diplomat to speak so frankly about it — in Washington, after a meeting with his US counterpart, Kerry.
Fabius’s assertions of chemical weapons use, most of them involving chlorine bombs, came as other signs pointed to Syrian government culpability.
Says who?
Human Rights Watch, in a report on Tuesday, said it had evidence that Assad’s forces had dropped chlorine-filled bombs from helicopters on three towns in Northern Syria in April. The chemical weapons treaty that Syria signed last year prohibits using chlorine as a weapon.
Who is Human Rights Watch anyway?
No wonder they are always handy with an agenda-backing report at the ready!
The State Department had no comment on Fabius’s assertions of chemical attacks, saying the matter was being investigated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Western officials have said in recent weeks that they were aware of reports that the use of chlorine might have occurred more than a dozen times.
I'm aware of the smell of bull$hit when I sniff it.
--more--"
And there it is again!
Related:
"Meanwhile, the international chemical weapons watchdog announced it was sending a team to investigate recent allegations about the use of chlorine gas in the war."
"There were also signs of disarray within the Western coalition Tuesday, as France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, expressed regret that the Obama administration had decided against using force after an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in the Damascus area.
You could have done it yourself and had the French people give you the Louie XVI treatment, so shaddup.
Though a US military strike was called off when Syria agreed to give up its chemical weapons, Fabius said there were indications that Syria had since waged 14 chemical attacks.
“We are examining the samples that were taken,” he said.
No evidence?
France, Fabius indicated, had been prepared to use force last year as part of an US-led coalition, but had not wanted to act alone. Had such a military strike been carried out, Fabius said, “we feel that it would have changed many things.”
How do you say hypocrite in French?
While France had indicated chagrin over the Obama administration’s military pullback on Syria, it was unusual for France’s top diplomat to speak so frankly about it — in Washington, after a meeting with his US counterpart, Kerry.
Fabius’s assertions of chemical weapons use, most of them involving chlorine bombs, came as other signs pointed to Syrian government culpability.
Says who?
Human Rights Watch, in a report on Tuesday, said it had evidence that Assad’s forces had dropped chlorine-filled bombs from helicopters on three towns in Northern Syria in April. The chemical weapons treaty that Syria signed last year prohibits using chlorine as a weapon.
Who is Human Rights Watch anyway?
No wonder they are always handy with an agenda-backing report at the ready!
The State Department had no comment on Fabius’s assertions of chemical attacks, saying the matter was being investigated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Western officials have said in recent weeks that they were aware of reports that the use of chlorine might have occurred more than a dozen times.
I'm aware of the smell of bull$hit when I sniff it.
--more--"
And there it is again!
