Quite simply I do not believe the US, UK and French government’s assertion that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against rebels “multiple times in small quantities”. Why on earth would they do that? The claim that “up to 150 people have died” spread over a number of incidents makes no sense at all. In a civil war when tens of thousands of people have died, where all sides have been guilty of massacres of scores at a time, I cannot conceive of any motive for killing a dozen or so at any one time with the odd chemical shell. It makes no military sense – chemical weapons are designed for use against population centres and massed armies. They are not precision weapons for deployment against small groups.
Why on earth would the Assad regime use a tiny amount of chemical weapons against tiny groups of rebels, knowing the West would use it as an excuse to start bombing? It makes no sense whatsoever. Cui bono?
The Russians have described the evidence as fabricated, and on this one I am with the Russians.
It is of course no coincidence that this humanitarian motive to start bombing Syria arises just as the tide of war turned against the rebels, and the government forces are about to move on Aleppo. I suspect now we will see massive NATO force intervention, with huge air to ground destruction of the government forces all over the country to “defend” Aleppo, just as we saw hundreds of thousands killed and whole cities destroyed in Libya to “defend” Benghazi. Whose people showed their gratitude by murdering the US Ambassador.
It is a further fascinating coincidence that this coordinated western switch of policy happens immediately after the Bilderberg conference. An analysis of which of the corporate interests there stand to gain in Syria might be a fascinating exercise.
There were two main reasons the tide of war turned against the rebels. Firstly, Hizbollah’s decision to enter the war on a large scale was provoked by the Israeli Air Force’s massive attack around Damascus, a fact the mainstream media has managed to hide completely. Secondly, at Turkish urging, the rebel forces had diverted much of their energies to attacking the Syrian kurds. This opens the interesting question of what the American client Kurds of Iraq will make of their patron sponsoring the massacre of their brethren in Syria.
Finally, chemical weapons are a terrible thing and their use should be condemned unreservedly. But where was all this Western outrage and activity when the Israelis were pouring down white phosphorous and kicking and maiming thousands of women and children in Gaza?
@ The Scourge
1/. ““I suppose that some regular posters would be happy to see relations with Iran deteriorate rather than (potentially) improve…”
This is merely a supposition and not a valid premise”
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You’re very observant this evening. Of course it’s a supposition – that’s why I used the expression “I suppose..”
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2/. “Your conclusion:
“…as an improvement would give them less opportunity to engage in their favourite activity of US-bashing.”; is a non-sequitur and so your argument is invalid.”
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It is not a conclusion – it explains why I suppose as I do in the first part of my comment.
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Real conclusion : as I’ve already suggested on a number of occasions, you really must get a good dictionary (I recommend the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary(in 2 vols)). Learning to read posts properly would also be helpful to you.
Ben, thus: The Reichwing in ‘Merica is exultant over events in Syria. Why not? They have the mirror-image of the prophecy of the 12th Imam which is ‘End Times’ excitement. They actually think they will be ‘Raptured’ out of harm’s way and are giggly about all the sinners who must stay to endure the events to come.
Don’cha just wish they’d all bugger off to Israel, convert the Jews and then obligingly convert the lot into a thin brown apocalyptic glaze? They’d only need about 100Mt to do the whole country. Help them, someone.
Habbakak prefers to disassemble posts rather than address the fundamental point raised in the hope that people will be distracted.
Weapons experts, seismologists and nuclear experts have made a very strong case that at least one super-massive explosion in Syria could not have been caused by conventional H.E. The only other known cause of very large man-made explosions is a nuclear fission weapon.
There is a fundamental difference between a tactical nuclear weapon and a strategic nuclear weapon. Those who expect, or create the expectation of another Hiroshima or Nagasaki when tactical nukes are deployed are sadly mistaken.
Habbakak just wants the world to know that illegal nuclear power Israel would never ever dream of attacking a non-nuclear state with such weapons, because obviously that would mean that they are the greatest threat to world peace and not those that they constantly accuse. And of course, the real problem for Israel is that every non-nuclear nation in the area will now be acquiring nuclear weapons more eagerly than ever – this is why it’s never going to be mentioned in the MSM.
@ Tech Savage
Calm down, dear, you musn’t get upset because not everyone falls into line behind you as soon as you pronounce. You write :
“Weapons experts, seismologists and nuclear experts have made a very strong case that at least one super-massive explosion in Syria could not have been caused by conventional H.E.”
Somewhat vague. Would you please let readers some names here and/or the organisations, institutes etc they work for or are associated with? If you can provide links(*), so much the better.
Thank you.
(*) serious links, please.
@Dad 5 05pm
Asking for names and links, aka evidence! LOL
Thanks Dad.
Hague’s still making contradictory noises about arming the Syrian rebels, and this is why:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10131063/Syrian-rebels-get-first-heavy-weapons-on-the-front-line-of-Aleppo.html
That’s our Sunni fundamentalist chums, Saudi Arabia. And Russian a-t missiles.
Confused? I’m not.
BTW, it would be intriguing to have a link to the ‘nuclear weapon’ story, especially as all roads lead to the same Press TV piece, and whatever it was was not a nuke, even a tiny one. Fuel-air, maybe.
http://a1.vsoh.com/sg1371529825zs9d.png
Syria in-depth analysis: Where the anti-Assad coalition went wrong
http://rt.com/op-edge/assad-syria-revolution-crisis-879/
…”the current Saudi-Qatari-US sponsored opposition is irrelevant to the future of a peaceful Syria. Not only it has no popular basis in the country but it has also failed to recognize that contemporary Syrian society’s core value-system is based on resistance and co-existence.”
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Macky 10 40am
Better than 1000 words!
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@June 1 02pm
But when it comes to words that’s a very revealing synopsis of the story so far.
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Thanks both.
Nigella’s sister-in-law’s brother, a certain Mr Monckton, allegedly was an SIS officer. Whether or not such dynamics are ‘in the blood’, they most certainly are visceral in nature.
It seems clear to me that Nigella’s entry into the military-gastronomic complex was a cleverly-designed endothelial operation (known in the trade as, ‘a jobby-op’), facilitated by the BBC. The goal of this high-fat deception, aimed squarely (but not fairly) at the jejunum, was to decelerate the thought-processes of those who might otherwise be out critiquing on blogs, fighting the good cyber-fight and getting thoroughly annoyed at the evening news. Nigella, it could be argued, is a new kind of disinformation agent, whose modus operandum is directed first at the uroboros belly and only secondarily at the collective brain.