Israel has already bombed chemical weapons plant

[dilloduck]

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) reports that Israeli fighter jets slipped into Damascus over the weekend and bombed a chemical weapons depot outside the city.

Neither Damascus nor Jerusalem have yet confirmed the attack, according to UPI.

According to The Jewish Press (JP) "many" reports came in over the weekend confirming the mission. Sources told the JP Israeli jets arrived over Damascus early Saturday morning and circled Assad's presidential compound before moving on to target the weapons site.

The Israeli jets reportedly received fire but returned to base unscathed.


Read more: Report Israeli Bombed Syrian Chemical Weapons - Business Insider

also from article

"[R]emoving the threat posed by Syria's chemical weapons stockpile by military force "is very, very complex."

"Even under international law, if you strike a chemical weapons base and there is collateral damage to civilians it is as if you, the attacker, used chemical weapons," he said.

Read more: Report Israeli Bombed Syrian Chemical Weapons - Business Insider

bold and coloring is my edit

 

[waltky]

Granny says dem Jews liable to march right into Damascus an' kick Assad's butt...

UN envoy to Syria says chemical 'substance' used
Aug 28,`13 -- Evidence suggests that some kind of chemical "substance" was used in Syria that may have killed more than 1,000 people, but any military strike in response must first gain U.N. Security Council approval, the U.N.'s special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday.

Brahimi spoke to reporters in Geneva as a U.N. inspection team was investigating the alleged poison gas attack near Damascus on Aug. 21 and momentum built for Western military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in the civil war that he called the most serious crisis facing the international community. "With what has happened on the 21st of August last week, it does seem that some kind of substance was used that killed a lot of people: hundreds, definitely more than a hundred, some people say 300, some people say 600, maybe 1,000, maybe more than 1,000 people," Brahimi said. "This was of course unacceptable. This is outrageous. This confirms how dangerous the situation in Syria is and how important for the Syrians and the international community to really develop the political will to address this issue seriously, and look for a solution for it," he said.

Brahimi did not elaborate on whether he based his information on the work of the U.N. team or other sources such as Western intelligence, including what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called "undeniable" evidence of a large-scale chemical attack likely launched by Assad's regime.

Brahimi also said that any U.S.-led military action must first gain approval from the 15-nation Security Council, whose five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - each have veto power. "International law says that any military action must be taken after" Security Council approval, he said. But, he added, President Barack Obama's administration is "not known to be trigger-happy."

News from The Associated Press

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Israel calls up reservists over Syrian threat
Aug 28,`13 -- An Israeli official says the government has ordered a "limited" call-up of reserve troops in anticipation of a possible attack by Syria. The official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Security Cabinet ordered the mobilization after special discussions on Wednesday.

With the U.S. threatening to attack Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons, Israel fears that Syria may respond with an attack on Israel. The official says the mobilization will include civil-defense units and reservists in air and rocket-defense units. He spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement. Despite the callup, Israeli officials believe the odds of a Syrian attack remain slim.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Israelis lined up at gas-mask distribution centers Wednesday and communities bordering Syria readied bomb shelters as top government officials held emergency meetings amid fears of a possible Syrian attack on Israel. Israel also deployed additional missile defense systems near the country's border with Syria. Supported by allies in the West, the U.S. has signaled that it may soon strike Syria in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons last week. That has raised speculation that Syria might retaliate with an attack on Israel, a close U.S. ally. Israeli demand for gas masks has tripled in recent days, said Maya Avishai of the Israeli postal service, which oversees gas mask distribution. About five million Israelis, roughly 60 percent of the population, now have gas masks and all of the country's citizens are eligible for them, she said.

A large crowd gathered a Tel Aviv distribution center Wednesday, where Galia Cohen was among those waiting in line for hours to collect free masks for herself and her family. "I have two children and I am afraid for my children," she said. Sivan Yehieli, chairman of a civilian emergency response committee along Israel's northern border with Syria and Lebanon, told Army Radio that towns in the region were preparing for a possible attack, readying bomb shelters and drilling school children on how to flee to shelters. "The citizens need to be prepared just like the army," said Yehieli. "We don't want to find ourselves surprised." A parliamentary committee in charge of civil defense was meeting Wednesday to discuss the gas mask distribution efforts. Israeli army commanders and top officials and security chiefs have also been meeting in recent days to discuss and assess the situation in Syria.

No special troop movements or exercises have been ordered, but additional Iron Dome and Patriot missile defense batteries were deployed Wednesday in Israeli areas near the Syrian border, Israeli defense officials said. Israel uses U.S.-made Patriot missile defense batteries against medium-range missiles, and the Iron Dome system is designed to intercept rockets fired from short distances of up to 70 kilometers (50 miles). Israel says the Iron Dome system shot down one of the four rockets launched from Lebanon into northern Israel last week, and intercepted a rocket fired toward the Red Sea resort town of Eilat earlier this month. The Iron Dome system has also intercepted rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. The defense officials also said they believed the U.S. would carry out an attack on Syria within days, and that Israel would receive U.S. notification before any strike. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing confidential security assessments.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu warned Syria that if Israel is targeted, it will respond "with force." Israel and Syria are bitter enemies. But Israel has kept its distance from the Syrian civil war, in part because it does not want to get dragged into the conflict and also because many of the factions battling the Syrian regime are hostile to Israel. More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria. Violence has occasionally spilled over into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, where Syrian mortar shells have landed. Israel has occasionally accused Syria of aiming at Israeli targets, and Israeli troops have returned fire.

Source

 

[Vox]

good

 

[waltky]

Just make sure ya don't hit the chemical weapons dump...

Experts: Don't bomb chemical weapon sites in Syria
Aug 30,`13 WASHINGTON (AP) -- You simply can't safely bomb a chemical weapon storehouse into oblivion, experts say. That's why they say the United States is probably targeting something other than Syria's nerve agents.

But now there is concern that bombing other sites could accidentally release dangerous chemical weapons that the U.S. military didn't know were there because they've lost track of some of the suspected nerve agents.

Bombing stockpiles of chemical weapons - purposely or accidentally - would likely kill nearby civilians in an accidental nerve agent release, create a long-lasting environmental catastrophe or both, five experts told The Associated Press. That's because under ideal conditions - and conditions wouldn't be ideal in Syria - explosives would leave at least 20 to 30 percent of the poison in lethal form. "If you drop a conventional munition on a storage facility containing unknown chemical agents - and we don't know exactly what is where in the Syrian arsenal - some of those agents will be neutralized and some will be spread," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a nonprofit that focuses on all types of weaponry. "You are not going to destroy all of them." "It's a classic case of the cure being worse than the disease," Kimball said. He said some of the suspected storage sites are in or near major Syrian cities like Damascus, Homs and Hama. Those cities have a combined population of well over 2 million people.

When asked if there is any way to ensure complete destruction of the nerve agents without going in with soldiers, seizing the chemicals and burning them in a special processing plant, Ralf Trapp, a French chemical weapons consultant and longtime expert in the field, said simply: "Not really." Trapp said to incinerate the chemicals properly, temperatures have to get as hot as 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Experts also say weather factors - especially wind and heat - even time of day, what chemicals are stored, how much of it is around and how strong the building is all are factors in what kind of inadvertent damage could come from a bombing.

There is one precedent for bombing a chemical weapons storehouse. In 1991, during the first Persian Gulf War, the U.S. bombed Bunker 13 in Al Muthanna, Iraq. Officials figured it contained 2,500 artillery rockets filled with sarin, the same nerve gas suspected in Syria. More than two decades later the site is so contaminated no one goes near it even now. That bunker is a special problem for inspectors because "an entry into the bunker would expose personnel to explosive, chemical and physical hazards," says a 2012 report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which implements the international chemical weapons convention. Pentagon planners are also worried about accidentally triggering a nerve agent attack by hitting weapons stores that have been moved by the government to new locations.

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France: UK vote doesn't thwart plans to hit Syria
Aug 30,`13 -- French President Francois Hollande expressed readiness Friday to push ahead with plans to strike Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons despite the British parliament's rejection of military action. Washington also was preparing for the possibility of a strike against the Damascus regime within days.

"The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished," Hollande said in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, published Friday, as U.N. experts in Damascus began what is expected to be the last day of their probe into the alleged attack. The French president reiterated that France wants a "proportional and firm action." When asked about the type of intervention, however, he said "all options are on the table."

Hollande suggested that action could even come ahead of Wednesday's extraordinary session of the French Parliament, called to discuss the Syria situation; lawmakers' approval is not needed for Hollande to order military action. "I will not take a decision before having all the elements that would justify it," he told Le Monde. However, noting that he had convened parliament, he added: "And if I have (already) committed France, the government will inform (lawmakers) of the means and objectives."

The British parliament voted late Thursday against military action in Syria, whittling down the core of the planned coalition to the United States and France. Italy and Germany have said they won't take part in any military action. The British `no' vote raised questions about France's participation - and ratcheted up pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama, who is also facing domestic skepticism about military intervention in Syria.

Amid the resistance, the U.S. administration shared intelligence with lawmakers Thursday aimed at convincing them the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people and must be punished. Obama appeared undeterred by the difficulties forming an international coalition, and advisers said he would be willing to retaliate against Syria on his own. "The president of the United States is elected with the duty to protect the national security interests in the United States of America," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

France has more intimate ties to Syria, having once ruled the country; it also has warplanes and strategic interest in the region. Paris has embraced the Syrian opposition and urged a firm response against Assad over the purported Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus. But Hollande appears to be facing increasing political and public resistance against moving against Syria quickly. Hollande said that France is among the few nations capable of "inflicting a sanction by the appropriate means" and "it is ready." But a decision will be made in close coordination with allies, he added.

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[waltky]

I wonder if dat old report dat Saddam had transferred his CW's to Syria is true?...

Syrian chemical weapon stockpile barely dented
September 6, 2013 WASHINGTON — The U.S. envoy to the United Nations says Syrian President Bashar Assad "has barely put a dent in his enormous stockpile" of chemical weapons that American officials believe killed more than 1,400 people outside Damascus last month.

Ambassador Samantha Power says the world has done very little to curb Assad's willingness to use the deadly nerve agents again. Power also said Friday the United States has exhausted all alternatives short using of military force to deter Assad from using chemical weapons on his own people in the future.

Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks about Syria, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, at the Center for American Progress in Washington.

Power was speaking at the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress think-tank in Washington. She again accused Russia of blocking a U.N. Security Council vote to take action in Syria.

Syrian chemical weapon stockpile barely dented, US says - U.S. - Stripes

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Report: Iran orders Baghdad attack if US hits Syria
September 6, 2013 WASHINGTON — The U.S. has intercepted an order from Iran to militants in Iraq to attack the U.S. Embassy and other American interests in Baghdad in the event of a strike on Syria, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Military officials have been trying to predict the range of possible responses from Syria, Iran and their allies. U.S. officials said they are on alert for Iran’s fleet of small, fast boats in the Persian Gulf, where some U.S. warships are positioned. The Journal reported that some officials believe a direct response from the Syrian or Iranian governments is less likely than reprisals from allied militant groups, such as Lebanese militant ally Hezbollah, which could attack the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. The State Department issued a new alert Thursday warning against nonessential travel to Iraq and citing terrorist activity “at levels unseen since 2008.”

The Iranian message, intercepted in recent days, came from Qasem Soleimani, the head of Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force, and went to Iranian-supported Shiite militia groups in Iraq, according to the Journal, citing U.S. officials. In it, Soleimani said Shiite groups must be prepared to respond with force after a U.S. strike on Syria. Iraqi Shiites have been sympathetic to the Alawite-dominated government of Syria and oppose U.S. strikes against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the Journal noted. U.S. officials told the paper that the Embassy in Baghdad was one likely target. The officials didn’t describe the range of potential targets indicated by the intelligence.

Attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad have fallen since American forces left Iraq. In the past, Iranian-trained Shiite groups have fired rockets and mortars at the embassy, at the urging of the Qods Force, a paramilitary arm of Iran’s forces. Syrians could also respond with “a vicious offensive” against the opposition inside Syria, Aaron David Miller, a former top Middle East negotiator in the State Department who now is a vice president at the Woodrow Wilson Center, told the Journal. Such a move, he said, would be a way “to demonstrate defiance” without running the risk of hitting American targets.

Report: Iran orders Baghdad attack if US hits Syria - Stripes - Independent U.S. military news from Iraq, Afghanistan and bases worldwide

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US military might help train Syrian rebels, officials say
September 5, 2013 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering a plan to use U.S. military trainers to help increase the capabilities of the Syrian rebels, in a move that would greatly expand the current CIA training being done quietly in Jordan, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Any training would take place outside Syria, and one possible location would be Jordan. The officials said no decision had been made, but that discussions were going on at high levels of the government. It comes as the Obama administration prods Congress to authorize limited military strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's government in retaliation for a deadly Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack. The proposal to use the U.S. military to train the rebels — something the administration has resisted through more than two years of civil war — would answer the demands of some lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to do more to train and equip the Syrian opposition. President Barack Obama in June decided to provide lethal aid to the rebels, but so far none of that assistance has gotten to the opposition.

Officials said Thursday that talk about a military training mission has increased but that there have been no specific Pentagon recommendations forwarded to the White House on how big it should be or how many troops it should involve. The CIA has been training select groups of rebels in Jordan on the use of communications equipment and some weapons provided by Gulf states. The new discussions center on whether the U.S. military should take over the mission so that hundreds or thousands can be trained, rather than just dozens. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan publicly.

U.S. Marines monitor Eager Lion multinational military maneuvers in Quweira, 186 miles south of Amman, Jordan. The Obama administration is considering a plan to use U.S. military trainers to help increase the capabilities of the Syrian rebels.

Any new training program conducted by the U.S. military would take time to put in place and likely would not begin until after any potential military action had been taken in response to the recent chemical weapons attack. It would require getting approvals from the host country, finding appropriate locations, getting the right number of personnel in place to conduct the training and setting up a vetting system to insure that instruction was not provided to any rebel groups that may not be friendly to the U.S. The Pentagon already has at least 1,000 troops in Jordan, including trainers working with Jordanian forces. The U.S. left about a dozen fighter jets and a Patriot missile battery there after a recent training exercise.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told Congress that the U.S. military would be prepared to do more training for the Syria opposition if needed. In response to questioning Wednesday during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Syria, Dempsey said he was "mostly supportive of helping the opposition by their development, by their training and equipping, not by becoming their military arm."

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