Report: Syrian chemical weapons appearing in Hezbollah caches.

[Doc91678]

By: Moe Lane
December 22nd, 2012

(H/T: Instapundit) I am back-and-forth on how seriously to take this particular story:


Two days after a mysterious explosion at a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon, the Kuwaiti website Al Jarida is reporting that Israel bombed the site because Syria had transferred missiles there that were capable of being equipped with chemical warheads. The missiles had been moved into Lebanon from Syria in the last several months and were being held inside warehouses owned by farmers in the area.

The report also claimed that Hezbollah has many additional warehouses across Lebanon that are used for the same purpose. In October another weapons storage facility in the town of Baalbek was destroyed after an explosion. The AFP said that four Syrians were killed in the blast.

…given that I’m not familiar with either the website in question, or the site that it’s drawing its story from. On the other hand, reports that Syria is using Hezbollah as a storage facility for its weapons of mass destruction have been circulating for years. Haaretz reported something similar happening in 2009; the Washington Post, of course, had a column on the subject a couple of days ago. On the gripping hand, if I was running the Syrian regime right now I’d want to have my WMD stockpiles under the control of somebody reliable… and when you’re dealing with a civil war, ‘somebody reliable’ often means ‘somebody you’re paying.’ So it’s not really surprising that the Assad regime would move its nasty stuff to someone who’d hold onto until it was needed – and maybe supply a little WMD blackmail against the West on the side, if that was needed.



And all of this leads to the next question: what are we going to do when the Syrian civil war reaches a tipping point? With reports coming in that the Assad regime is making cruise missile strikes against rebels – a pretty good indicator that the regime is worried; those things aren’t exactly recyclable – it may hit a point soon where we decide to intervene. If past history is any indication, if/when that happens it’d be done without reference to the War Powers Act… and if the (Democratic-controlled) Senate chooses to ignore that again then we might as well admit that the WPA is dead, dead, dead. Which is fine by me, but I was under the impression that various and sundry members of the antiwar movement had different opinions.


Report: Syrian chemical weapons appearing in Hezbollah caches. | RedState

 

[waltky]

Granny says it's like the right hand don't know what the left hand's doin'...

U.S.: Syria didn't use chemical weapons in Homs incident
January 16th, 2013 - The Syrian government did not use chemical weapons against residents of Homs in a December attack, a U.S. State Department investigation shows, but did apparently misuse a riot-control gas in the incident, according to senior U.S. officials.

The investigation stemmed from allegations inside Syria about the use of chemical weapons during an attack on the city of Homs on December 23. The officials said the State Department launched a probe from its consulate in Istanbul after doctors and activists reported dozens of victims suffering from nervous system, respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments after inhaling the gas. Foreign Policy's "The Cable" blog reported Tuesday that a secret diplomatic cable provided a "compelling case" that President Bashar al-Assad's military used chemical weapons in the attack.

The United States was informed of the incident by representatives of a non-governmental organization working in Syria, who told the U.S. consulate in Turkey that they believed a chemical attack took place in Homs, according to a U.S. official. The NGO set up some interviews for the consulate, which then wrote a cable discussing the concerns. The U.S. official said the cable noted that the evidence was inconclusive that there was a chemical attack.

However, the concern triggered a more extensive investigation by the State Department, with intelligence personnel assessing online videos of the attack and pictures of the victims. Chemical weapons experts and doctors experienced in treating patients exposed to chemical weapons were also consulted, according to U.S. officials. And interviews were conducted with Syrian doctors and activists inside the country by a U.S. partner there.

The gas was determined to be a "riot control agent" that was not designed to produce lasting effects, but became more dangerous when it was released in dense areas and was not dispersed in the air quickly, the officials said. "It is meant to be short term," one of the officials said. "But just like with tear gas, if you breathe in an entire canister, that can have a severe effect on your lungs and other organs." "That doesn't make it a chemical weapon, however," the official said. Dr. Abu al Fida, who treated about 30 of the approximately 100 people who were affected by the mysterious gas, told CNN the victims' symptoms depended on their proximity to the substance. People who were further away from the source suffered labored breathing, disorientation, hallucination, nervousness and lack of limb control, al Fida said. But those closer to the source of the gas had much more severe symptoms, including paralyses, seizures, muscle spasms and in some cases blindness, he said. Six people were killed by the gas, the doctor said.

MORE

See also:

Chemical weapons used in Syria, diplomatic cable concludes
January 16, 2013 - A secret State Department cable has concluded that the Syrian military likely used chemical weapons against its own people in a deadly attack last month, The Cable has learned.

United States diplomats in Turkey conducted a previously undisclosed, intensive investigation into claims that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons, and made what an Obama administration official who reviewed the cable called a "compelling case" that Assad's military forces had used a deadly form of poison gas. The cable, signed by the U.S. consul general in Istanbul, Scott Frederic Kilner, and sent to State Department headquarters in Washington last week, outlined the results of the consulate's investigation into reports from inside Syria that chemical weapons had been used in the city of Homs on Dec. 23.

The consul general's report followed a series of interviews with activists, doctors, and defectors, in what the administration official said was one of the most comprehensive efforts the U.S. government has made to investigate claims by internal Syrian sources. The investigation included a meeting between the consulate staff and Mustafa al-Sheikh, a high-level defector who once was a major general in Assad's army and key official in the Syrian military's WMD program. An Obama administration official who reviewed the document, which was classified at the "secret" level, detailed its contents to The Cable. "We can't definitely say 100 percent, but Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15 was used in Homs on Dec. 23," the official said.

The use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime would cross the "red line" President Barack Obama first established in an Aug. 20 statement. "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation," Obama said. To date, the administration has not initiated any major policy changes in response to the classified cable, but a Deputies Committee meeting of top administration officials is scheduled for this week.

The report confirms the worst fears of officials who are frustrated by the current policy, which is to avoid any direct military assistance to the Syrian rebels and limit U.S. aid to sporadic deliveries of humanitarian and communications equipment. Many believe that Assad is testing U.S. red lines. "This reflects the concerns of many in the U.S. government that the regime is pursuing a policy of escalation to see what they can get away with as the regime is getting more desperate," the administration official said.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Iran, Hezbollah's hand seen in terror attacks...

Report: Iran, Hezbollah terror threat rising
Jan 30,`13 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iran's elite Quds Force and Hezbollah militants are learning from a series of botched terror attacks over the past two years and pose a growing threat to the U.S. and other Western targets as well as Israel, a prominent counterterrorism expert says.

Operating both independently and together, the militant groups are escalating their activities around the world, fueling worries in the U.S. that they increasingly have the ability and the willingness to attack the U.S., according to a report by Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Studies. His report points to two attacks last year - one successful and one foiled by U.S. authorities - as indications that the militants are adapting and are determined to take revenge on the West for efforts to disrupt Tehran's nuclear program and other perceived offenses.

The report's conclusions expand on comments late last year from U.S. terrorism officials who told Congress that the Quds Force and Hezbollah, which often coordinate efforts, have become "a significant source of concern" for the U.S. The Quds Force is an elite wing of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, the defenders of Iran's ruling clerics and their hold on power. The report comes amid ongoing tensions between Iran and the West, including a persistent stalemate over scheduling six-party talks on Tehran's nuclear program and anger over reports that the U.S. and Israel were behind the Stuxnet computer attack that forced the temporary shutdown of thousands of centrifuges at an Iranian nuclear facility in 2010.

More than 20 terror attacks by Hezbollah or Quds Force operatives were thwarted around the world between May 2011 and July 2012, with nine coming in the first nine months of 2012, Levitt said in the report. "What is particularly striking is how amateurish the actions of both organizations have been: Targets were poorly chosen and assaults carried out with gross incompetence," Levitt said in the report. "But as the groups brush off the cobwebs and professionalize their operations, this sloppy tradecraft could quickly be replaced by operational success."

Levitt is a senior fellow and director of the Washington Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. From 2005 to early 2007, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department. The two key attacks, the report said, include the plot by a Texas man to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States. Manssor Arbabsiar, a U.S. citizen with an Iranian passport, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and murder-for-hire last October and told the court that Iranian military officials were involved in the planning. Iran has denied that link.

MORE

 

[ScienceRocks]

Good, I hope they wipe each other out.

I hate fucking muslims.

 

[waltky]

Evidence found Syria crossed the red-line...

Envoy claims evidence of Syrian chemical weapons
Sat, Apr 13, 2013 - Western nations have “hard evidence” that chemical weapons have been used at least once in the Syrian war, but a UN investigation is now unlikely to get into the country, diplomats said on Thursday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government asked the UN to investigate its claims against rebel forces. However, it is now refusing to let international experts into the country because the UN wants to look into claims against Assad’s forces. “In one case we have hard evidence,” a Western diplomat told reporters, commenting on the rival claims. “There are several examples where we are quite sure that shells with chemicals have been used in a very sporadic way,” added the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity and without giving details of the evidence.

A diplomat from a UN Security Council nation also said that “quite convincing” evidence had been sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to back accusations against Assad’s forces. Britain and France have submitted information to the UN about allegations that government forces used chemical weapons in the city of Homs on Dec. 23 last year and at Ataybah near Damascus last month. Neither has disclosed details, but the Homs case is said to be the most serious of the two. The Syrian government called for a UN investigation after it said opposition rebels fired a chemical weapon shell into Khan al-Assal in Aleppo Province on March 19.

Syrian government troops were among those killed or wounded in the attack, according to diplomats. The UN has assembled a team of international experts, led by Ake Sellstrom of Sweden, in the region, but Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem wrote to Ban this week saying his government could not accept an inquiry that went beyond the Aleppo incident. “It is regrettable that the Syrian government has rejected my offer to engage in [an] investigation,” Ban said on Thursday. Ban had demanded “unfettered access” to all of Syria before sending the team. “They are now ready. They can be deployed any time soon; so this is my urgent appeal,” Ban told reporters.

Envoy claims evidence of Syrian chemical weapons - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

Granny says Hezbollah wants to be the power behind the throne...

Fierce Fighting Reveals Deeper Hezbollah Involvement in Syrian Civil War
May 20, 2013 – After months of half-denials and doublespeak, Hezbollah appears now to be openly intervening in Syria’s civil war, fighting alongside regime forces amid new signals of defiance from President Bashar Assad.

Gunmen from the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite terror group reportedly joined regime units Sunday in fierce fighting that was aimed at ousting rebels from a strategic town. The fighting took place along a corridor linking Damascus with a coastal strip that is home to many of Assad’s Alawite clan and regime loyalists. Arab media reports said early Monday that Qusair (Qusayr), which is located near the northeastern corner of Lebanon and was first captured by anti-Assad rebels more than a year ago, had been retaken by regime and Hezbollah forces which in recent weeks had taken up positions near the town.

Hezbollah’s blatant involvement in the effort to recapture the rebel stronghold follows growing indications by the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, that it will not allow the regime in Damascus to fall to what he suggests is a conspiracy involving the U.S., Israel and radical Sunnis. Mideast experts have long contended that, while deep concerns exist about what kind of regime might follow the toppling of Assad, his removal would indisputably deprive both Hezbollah and Iran of a vital ally. Hezbollah has claimed that its involvement in the conflict was limited to defending Lebanese Shi’ite towns near the Syrian border – in keeping with its self-styled role as Lebanon’s “resistance,” defending its people against outside foes, usually Israel.

Nasrallah has also spoken of a Hezbollah duty to protect an important Shi’ite shrine in Damascus, in a conflict increasingly waged along sectarian lines. (Most rebels, including local and foreign jihadists, are Sunnis, and draw support from Sunni Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey; the Alawite minority is a Shi’ite sect, and enjoys the backing of Shi’ite Iran and Hezbollah.) The fighting to retake Qusair marks a far deeper level of involvement, however.

The Syrian National Council (SNC) – part of the U.S.-recognized opposition coalition – in a statement accused Hezbollah of helping the regime invade Qusair and warned that a massacre could be imminent. “Assad forces, with support from Hezbollah militias, as well as Iranian elements, are currently shelling the town of Qusair with various heavy weapons. They are leveling civilian homes with artillery and rocket fire, while the air force provides cover for the Hezbollah militias,” it said, adding, “there are clear indications that a civilian massacre will soon take place.”

MORE

 

[skye]

Backed by Iran, Hezbollah is fighting now openly in Syria, the world is watching and fears of a regional full scale confrontation ...which will affect the whole world, will be the next chapter in this bloody war.

 

[Trajan]

if Syria is perceived as winning, watch Israel ramp up pressure.

I am of the mind, there is NO good outcome here.....

 

[Trajan]

Backed by Iran, Hezbollah is fighting now openly in Syria, the world is watching and fears of a regional full scale confrontation ...which will affect the whole world, will be the next chapter in this bloody war.

the Iranian presidential election is set for june 14....this will be interesting.

We have done and said squat and probably won't...we have left such a vacuum, this is all set up to become very very ugly.

 

[Trajan]

Jordan is now the new place to watch, very closely. We have to sppt. them, if they tip, the consequences will be dramatic and horrible, most especially for israel.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Backed by Iran, Hezbollah is fighting now openly in Syria, the world is watching and fears of a regional full scale confrontation ...which will affect the whole world, will be the next chapter in this bloody war.

the Iranian presidential election is set for june 14....this will be interesting.

We have done and said squat and probably won't...we have left such a vacuum, this is all set up to become very very ugly.

Wait...I thought all problems would end after killing Osama...

 

[Trajan]

that was small potatoes in the end.....this is, well, remember that saudi arabia, qatar et al all pay lip service to ( and fund) the fundies.....if they perceive that their governments are next, they will come down on the side of self interest and the funding will balloon, big time, until there will be just handful of them left for the extremists to topple, they can only be bought for so long, as Churchill said; appeasement is hoping the crocodile eats you last..........and as usual, by then it will be too late.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

that was small potatoes in the end.....this is, well, remember that saudi arabia, qatar et al all pay lip service to ( and fund) the fundies.....if they perceive that their governments are next, they will come down on the side of self interest and the funding will balloon, big time, until there will be just handful of them left for the extremists to topple, they can only be bought for so long, as Churchill said; appeasement is hoping the crocodile eats you last..........and as usual, by then it will be too late.

Can you imagine if Churchill existed today...the PC world would eat him alive.
And once again the term "useful idiots" comes to mind.

 

[Trajan]

yup