UN RIghts Investigator Says Syrian Rebels Used Chemical Weapons- Sarin

[SherriMunnerlyn]

UN rights investigator: Syrian rebels 'used sarin' Published today (updated) 06/05/2013 GENEVA (AFP) -- Syrian rebels have used the deadly nerve agent sarin in their fight against President Bashar Assad's regime, according to testimony from victims, UN human rights investigator Carla del Ponte said."According to the testimonies we have gathered, the rebels have used chemical weapons, making use of sarin gas," del Ponte, a former war crimes prosecutor, said in an interview with Swiss radio late on Sunday.She said there was "still not irrefutable proof, (but) very strong suspicions, concrete suspicions that sarin gas has been used. Assistance to victims shows this."Her comments follow Israeli airstrikes on military sites near Damascus on Sunday and come amid suspicions that Assad's regime has used chemical weapons in the 26-month conflict.Del Ponte said the UN commission of inquiry on Syria, which she is a member of, was far from finishing its probe."We still have to deepen our investigation, verify and confirm (the findings) through new witness testimony, but according to what we have established so far, it is at the moment opponents of the regime who are using sarin gas," she said.Del Ponte also said the commission might still find proof that the Syrian regime was also using this type of chemical weapon.US President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons in the Syria conflict was a "red line" for his administration but has said he does not foresee US troops on the ground in Syria.Set up two years ago at the behest of the UN Human Rights Council, the commission has so far been unable to gain access to Syria as Damascus has ignored repeated requests for entry.Instead, it has interviewed over 1,500 refugees and exiles as a basis for its reports and its charges that both the government forces and their allies and opposition forces of carrying out war crimes in Syria, where more than 70,000 people have been killed since the violence exploded in March 2011.Sarin is a powerful neurotoxin developed by Nazi scientists in the 1930s.Originally developed as a pesticide, sarin was used to deadly effect in the 1988 raid on the Kurdish village of Halabja in northern Iraq. A Japanese cult also used sarin in two attacks in the 1990s.The gas works by being inhaled or absorbed through the skin and kills by crippling the nervous system.Symptoms include nausea and violent headaches, blurred or tunnel vision, drooling, muscular convulsions, respiratory arrest, loss of consciousness and then death, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In high doses, sarin paralyses the muscles around the lungs and prevents chemicals from "switching off" the body's secretions, so victims suffocate or drown as their lungs fill with mucus and saliva. UN rights investigator: Syrian rebels 'used sarin' | Maan News Agency

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

My husband was telling me about this and it took only a few minutes for me to find this video. Now, I know it would help if it was in English, I will look for it in English.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

BBC reporting story of Syrian rebels use of sarin.

 

[dilloduck]

Well doesn't that throw a monkey wrench into things. Myabe the US will think twice about providing them aid ?

 

[Esmeralda]

Is there explanation as to how they got a hold of Sarin? Where did they get it? Why would they make a video of them producing chemical weapons and put it up on YouTube? I'm somewhat skeptical, and not at all into conspiracy theories, but am wondering if Assad would use such a weapon on his own people to make them think, and in turn the outside world think, that the rebels are using it. He is a very evil guy.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

Is there explanation as to how they got a hold of Sarin? Where did they get it? Why would they make a video of them producing chemical weapons and put it up on YouTube? I'm somewhat skeptical, and not at all into conspiracy theories, but am wondering if Assad would use such a weapon on his own people to make them think, and in turn the outside world think, that the rebels are using it. He is a very evil guy.

That was a different chemical they were experimenting with in that video. And it is UN investigators stating the rebels are using sarin, not Assad.

 

[Esmeralda]

Is there explanation as to how they got a hold of Sarin? Where did they get it? Why would they make a video of them producing chemical weapons and put it up on YouTube? I'm somewhat skeptical, and not at all into conspiracy theories, but am wondering if Assad would use such a weapon on his own people to make them think, and in turn the outside world think, that the rebels are using it. He is a very evil guy.

That was a different chemical they were experimenting with in that video. And it is UN investigators stating the rebels are using sarin, not Assad.

The investigators are saying the rebels are using it because apparently Syrian people have told them this happened. I don't doubt that the chemical assaults took place, I just wonder if it wasn't Assad doing it to his people (he is Shia, the rebels are Sunni) and making them think it was the rebels doing it, in order to gain points and make the rebels look bad. Why would the rebels post a youtube video of themselves making chemical weapons? Why would they brag about it instead of being secretive? I am just being skeptical. It is possible Assad made the video and used the Sarin. Then again, it is possible the rebels did it. I just wonder how they got a hold of the materials and the lab to do so, and I wonder why they would advertise the fact they were using chemical weapons.

 

[Ringel05]

I'm skeptical of anything either side in Syria says just like I'm skeptical of anything a UN representative says. UN representatives don't always have a track record of always being impartial.

 

[hjmick]

Wow, who does one pick in this fight? The asshole in charge, or the al Qaeda backed "rebels?"

Tough choice...

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

Wow, who does one pick in this fight? The asshole in charge, or the al Qaeda backed "rebels?"

Tough choice...

I agree. I think it is best to not take sides at all.

 

[RoccoR]

Esmeralda, et al,

With all due respect to Carla Del Ponte and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, she may have jumped the gun.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict. As a result, the Commission is not in a position to further comment on the allegations at this time.

The Chair of the Commission of Inquiry, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, reminds all parties to the conflict that the use of chemical weapons is prohibited in all circumstances under customary international humanitarian law.

In line with its mandate, the Commission is currently investigating all allegations of violations of international law in the Syrian Arab Republic and will issue its findings to the Human Rights Council on 3 June 2013, as mandated by resolution 22/24.

There is no firm explanation yet of anything. They are not even sure an attack took place.

Is there explanation as to how they got a hold of Sarin? Where did they get it? Why would they make a video of them producing chemical weapons and put it up on YouTube? I'm somewhat skeptical, and not at all into conspiracy theories, but am wondering if Assad would use such a weapon on his own people to make them think, and in turn the outside world think, that the rebels are using it. He is a very evil guy.

(COMMENT)

It is important that we (especially America) take a deep breath, a step back, and be very careful about how (if at all) we get involved. Every time we do get involved, it backfires on us. And lets face it, If the US becomes actively involved, we are going to take a tremendous amount of heat. Already, people who don't have the slightest idea about what is going on, are suggesting that the US is aiding al-Qaeda.

The White House has to be much better at this than we have in the past. This is not our fight, but it can be a huge albatros if we get involved.

The last thing we want is DOD, DOS, and CIA involvement. There should not be a US "Red Line" at all. This is an Arab Matter. The Arabs should solve this. If the Arab's can put together five Armies to attack Israel, they can surely put together a relief column to suppress the Assad Regime (if that is what they really want). If, on the other hand, they want the uprising to continue, then the Arab world will do nothing; and only laugh if the US gets sucked-in.

Most Respectfully,
R

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

Israel released what I believe to be a false report about the Syrian government using chemical weapons, as the UN is investigating a claim Syrian rebels are using them. I think Israels claim simply led the UN to announce the findings of their investigation prematurely.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

I'm skeptical of anything either side in Syria says just like I'm skeptical of anything a UN representative says. UN representatives don't always have a track record of always being impartial.

And you believe Israel to be credible and impartial????????????????

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

This is a very informative interview with Robert Fisk, he was allowed to (he was not imbedded as a journalist ) visit the front lines of the Syrian Army and interview soldiers and officers. READ what he says. AND if you think he is simply siding with the government of Syria, think again, after you read the paragraph before this where he candidly speaks about brutal practices of the Syrian Army. ROBERT*FISK:*Well, I wrote an*article*in*The Independent*the other day talking about the theater of chemical weapons. And frankly, after the disgraceful lies which we were told about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq prior to the invasion by your then-president, Mr. Bush, and our beloved prime minister, Mr. Blair, I tend to take a deeply cynical view of chemical weapons use in any country. We know Saddam used chemical weapons against the Kurds. We tend to forget that the components of those chemical weapons came from New Jersey.But look, I had a talk with a Syrian army intelligence officer over coffee in Damascus, and I put it very frankly: "Look, you’ve got chemical weapons. You’ve always had chemical weapons, from the Russians. Do you use them?" And he said, "Why on earth would we want to?" He said, "We’ve got MiGs, with firepower infinitely more destructive than chemical weapons. Why would we want to use chemical weapons when we have MiGs with bombs?" which did seem to be a fairly, you know, straightforward argument. I have to say that on none of the soldiers which I saw, either in the area of Daraya, one of the suburbs of Damascus where there’s fierce fighting around the site of Zeinab Mosque in Damascus, or on the northern frontier opposite Turkey, were any of the soldiers carrying gas masks, which, if they were in the habit of using poison gas, they would have done.Now, we keep having this silly phrase. You know, first of all, the Americans were worried that Assad’s chemical weapons would fall into the wrong hands, meaning the al-Nusra rebel groups, which are Islamists. Presumably, the right hands at that stage were supposed to be Assad’s own armories. Then the next one was that Assad had used chemical weapons. And this sort of bubbled on for a while, and there were inquiries by Médecins Sans Frontières and a not-very-good inquiry by the*ICRC. And then we had this extraordinary theater where Israel suddenly said there was some proof, or possibly proof, that [Syria] might have, could have used, might have used, would be able to use, had used chemical weapons. They then started talking about sarin gas. Then your beloved Secretary of State John Kerry turned up in Damascus, returned to the United States, and said that Assad had used chemical weapons. And Obama then said, well, he might have, could have, might in the future, it would be a game changer—a lovely cliché. I mean, at least he admits it’s a game in the Middle East. But at the end of the day, he said, "We’ve got to have some proof." So we still don’t have proof. Then, of course, we’ve had Carla Del Ponte for the United Nations saying there appears to be evidence or might be evidence that the rebels had used chemical weapons, but there didn’t appear to be any evidence that the government had. Well, blow me down.There are three young children in a hospital in Tripoli in northern Lebanon who do have deep burns but apparently do not have actual wounds caused by missile parts or bullets. And it’s been suggested that they were the victims of a chemical weapon attack by the Syrian government—possibly, but they also conceivably, according to one doctor I spoke to in Beirut, could have been suffering from the use of phosphorus shells. Now, phosphorus shells should not be used against civilians, only against the military. But it’s quite possible the Syrians do have such munitions. But, of course, that’s not an argument that the Americans would want to take up, since the U.S. used the same munitions on civilians as well as militants in the town of Fallujah during the battles for Iraq seven years ago, eight years ago.So, don’t ask me if they’ve used chemical weapons. It’s conceivable. There really isn’t any proof. The Israelis don’t appear to have any proof. The Americans don’t appear to have any kind of finite proof. And I don’t think the U.N. has any finite proof that the rebels have used it. What you have got to realize is that this is a propaganda war just as much as it is a savage war killing many thousands of human beings. . http://m.democracynow.org/stories/13625

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

ROBERT FISK says there is no conclusive proof either side has used chemical weapons. And he is right there in Syria and Lebanon investigating these claims. Putting his life on the line to do it, too, he recently spent 2 weeks Iin Syria and was even allowed to visit the front lines.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

 

[Ringel05]

I'm skeptical of anything either side in Syria says just like I'm skeptical of anything a UN representative says. UN representatives don't always have a track record of always being impartial.

And you believe Israel to be credible and impartial????????????????

I said that....... Where?

 

[irosie91]

Idiot quotes Idiot

"We know Saddam used chemical weapons against the Kurds. We tend to forget that the components of those chemical weapons came from New Jersey".


the above is something like "We know that achmed used a bomb
made with amonium nitrate to murder 36 kids in a nursery school---
we tend to forget that he bought the ammonium nitrate from Seymour
Cohen's garden supply shop in New Jersey"