industryterm:chemical weapons attacks

Theresa May temporise avant d’envisager des frappes en Syrie sans vote au Parlement
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/syrie/article/2018/04/11/theresa-may-temporise-avant-d-envisager-des-frappes-en-syrie-sans-vote-au-pa

http://img.lemde.fr/2018/04/11/1146/0/4099/2049/644/322/60/0/e36dc37_5879-55vo5r.hmo64.jpg

Downing Street l’assure : Theresa May est prête à s’engager en Syrie, même sans attendre un éventuel accord du Parlement. La première ministre britannique, lors de conversations téléphoniques, mardi 10 avril, s’est mise d’accord avec les présidents américain et français sur « la nécessité pour la communauté internationale d’une réponse » aux attaques en Syrie « afin de faire respecter l’interdiction mondiale de l’usage des armes chimiques », détaille un communiqué officiel.

Les avions Tornado sont prêts à décoller de la base militaire britannique d’Akrotiri (sud de Chypre). Mais Mme May, souvent raillée pour son caractère #excessivement_méthodique et sa lenteur à décider, semble prendre son temps pour réunir les arguments dont elle pourrait avoir besoin si elle se heurtait à des critiques parlementaires. Le communiqué de Downing Street évoque prudemment les « informations à confirmer » faisant état d’une attaque à l’arme chimique à Douma, près de Damas.

Si même Mme May n’est pas (encore…) convaincue par les preuves… qu’on ne lui a visiblement pas (encore…) présentées, c’est bien à cause de sa pusillanimité bien connue (chicken !, en anglais).

A New Normal: Ongoing Chemical Weapons Attacks in Syria

Since the conflict in Syria began, there have been numerous and horrific violations of humanitarian and human rights law, including the systematic use of chemical weapons. A New Normal: Ongoing Chemical Weapons Attacks in Syria is a report by the Syrian American Medical Society that documents 161 chemical attacks from the beginning of the conflict through 2015, using reports and first-hand accounts from physicians and health workers in Syria. SAMS compiled another 133 reported chemical attacks that could not be fully substantiated. The 161 documented chemical attacks have led to at least 1,491 deaths and 14,581 injuries from chemical exposure. Out of the 161 attacks, 77% have occurred after the passage of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2118 in September 2013, which created a framework for the destruction of Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles. In 2015, there were 69 chemical weapons attacks, making it the year with the most chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date. At least 58 chlorine attacks, or 36% of the total chemical weapons attacks, occurred after UNSC Resolution 2209 which condemns chlorine gas as a weapon in Syria.

▻https://www.sams-usa.net/foundation/images/A%20New%20Normal%20Photo.JPG
▻https://www.sams-usa.net/foundation/index.php/component/content/article/2-uncategorised/255-a-new-normal-ongoing-chemical-weapons-attacks-in-syria
#Syrie #armes_nucléaires #guerre #conflit

U.N. Probe Chief Doubtful on Syria Sarin Exposure Claims - Gareth Porter
▻http://zcomm.org/znetarticle/u-n-probe-chief-doubtful-on-syria-sarin-exposure-claims

Sellstrom repeated his doubts about the total number of victims of Sarin intoxication and the numbers of patients said to have been treated in hospitals in a Mar. 11 interview with the website “Syria in Crisis” affiliated with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The head of the Syria investigation had also investigated the use of chemical weapons by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war for the U.N. He had been Chief Inspector for UNSCOM, the U.N. Commission on Iraq’s compliance with the ban on weapons of mass destruction, and head of its successor, UNMOVIC.

He has apparently questioned the larger narrative of Syrian government culpability for the attack as well. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal after the release of the December U.N. investigation report, Sellstrom said he believes both sides in the Syrian conflict had the “opportunity” and the “capability” to “carry out chemical weapons attacks.”

Iran Today : Rafsanjani Takes A Step Back Over Syria ?
Published on September 4th, 2013 | by Joanna Paraszczuk

▻http://eaworldview.com/2013/09/iran-today-rafsanjani-takes-a-step-back-over-syria

After causing a stir by going against the official line and blaming the Syrian Government for the August 21 chemical weapons attacks outside Damascus, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani appears to have now taken a step back from that position.

Fars News, close to the Revolutionary Guards, writes on Tuesday that Rafsanjani told a meeting of the Expediency Council that Tehran’s support for Syria must continue — as well as support for Lebanon — because “these countries are at the front line of resistance against Israel”.

According to Fars, Rafsanjani now casts suspicion over Washington’s reaction to the August 21 attacks, noting that: “America had prepared everything earlier and they themselves announced that they knew three days earlier that chemical materials were to be used.”

The U.S. was trying to create “sedition” in the region by going to war, he added, even though “Syria is not America’s problem, and the Middle East is the important matter for the West.”

While refraining from issuing any specific threats against the U.S. or Israel, Rafsanjani does echo other voices in Iran — notably the Revolutionary Guards — when he warns that “all diplomatic capacities must be used, because if the region heads toward war, all of it will burn in this war’s fire.”

So can we consider these remarks to be a complete retraction?

What is notable, however, is that Rafsanjani — at least according to Fars — does not change tack entirely and blame the insurgency for the chemical attacks. Instead, he offers this explanation: “It could be that individuals have penetrated the Syrian Army and they carried out these measures.”

Whether this is a refusal to completely retract his earlier accusations, a face-saving measure, or merely Fars News spin is unclear.

Important: Chorus of Syria leaks bear hallmark of White House’s orchestrated spin
►http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/31/white-house-syria-orchestrated-spin

Just as the White House unveiled its dossier of evidence of chemical weapons attacks in Syria on Friday, two senior administration officials were giving a telephone briefing to the media. They were authorised by the administration to attest to the reliability of intelligence suggesting the attacks were carried out by Syria – but only on the condition of anonymity.

Exactly 24 hours earlier, the White House deputy spokesman Josh Earnest had discouraged reporters from trusting anonymous administration officials, saying they should “place more credibility in on-the-record statements”.