Obama warns Syria's Assad not to use chemical weapons

[Crazy_Ivan80]

no intervention. Let Iran bleed, not the US

[Valmy]

I don't get the fear over chemical weapons.  I mean I get why one should be afraid of chemical weapons, they are pretty nasty, but what I don't get is why they are scarier than conventional weapons.  Or a 'weapon of mass destruction'.  Bombs are far more effective at killing people.  If I have a choice between being blown up or being gassed I like my chances better with the gas thanks.

Besides that they are notoriously difficult to use.

[Grey Fox]

It's because of their nature of warfare. Objective base warfare vs Killing soldiers warfare.

[derspiess]

Besides that they are notoriously difficult to use.

Correct.  But if used correctly they can be an effective means of eliminating a rebellious village.

[jimmy olsen]

Besides that they are notoriously difficult to use.

Correct.  But if used correctly they can be an effective means of eliminating a rebellious village.

A bit more than villages are in rebellion this time.

[Tamas]

Besides that they are notoriously difficult to use.

Correct.  But if used correctly they can be an effective means of eliminating a rebellious village.

A bit more than villages are in rebellion this time.

so they will use a bit more gas. Duh.

[derspiess]

Besides that they are notoriously difficult to use.

Correct.  But if used correctly they can be an effective means of eliminating a rebellious village.

A bit more than villages are in rebellion this time.

It takes a village-- to start with anyway. 

[KRonn]

Pres Obama better be ready to intervene or take very strong measures with allies if he's going to make that threat and ultimatum type stances. The US and West is already taking some part though aren't they? Giving some supplies to the Rebels if they show a united front, which I believe has been happening. US/West probably did so because the longer this has gone on the more that radical factions have become involved, so want to blunt that.

[CountDeMoney]

Pres Obama better be ready to intervene or take very strong measures with allies if he's going to make that threat and ultimatum type stances.

It was reported this morning that the USS Eisenhower group arrived in the Eastern Med and has subsequently joined the USS Iwo Jima ARG.
He will be ready to intervene.

[Ed Anger]

I bet the 173rd Airborne Brigade in NATO reserve has been told to get its shit in gear.

[jimmy olsen]

Syrians are locked and loaded!

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/05/15706380-syria-loads-chemical-weapons-into-bombs-military-awaits-assads-order?lite

Syria loads chemical weapons into bombs; military awaits Assad's order

By Jim Miklaszewski and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said.

As recently as Tuesday, officials had said there was as yet no evidence that the process of mixing the "precursor" chemicals had begun. But Wednesday, they said their worst fears had been confirmed: The nerve agents were locked and loaded inside the bombs.

Sarin is an extraordinarily lethal agent. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces killed 5,000 Kurds with a single sarin attack on Halabja in 1988.
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U.S. officials stressed that as of now, the sarin bombs hadn't been loaded onto planes and that Assad hadn't issued a final order to use them. But if he does, one of the officials said, "there's little the outside world can do to stop it."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated U.S. warnings to Assad not to use chemical weapons, saying he would be crossing "a red line" if he did so.

Speaking Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Clinton said the Syrian government was on the brink of collapse, raising the prospect that "an increasingly desperate Assad regime" might turn to chemical weapons or that the banned weapons could fall into other hands.

"Ultimately, what we should be thinking about is a political transition in Syria and one that should start as soon as possible," Clinton said. "We believe their fall is inevitable. It is just a question of how many people have to die before that occurs."

Aides told NBC News that Clinton was expected next week to officially recognize the main opposition movement, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, with which she is scheduled to meet in Morocco. Britain, France, Turkey and some key Arab leaders have already recognized the opposition.

Fighting intensified Wednesday in the 21-month civil war, which has left 40,000 people dead. The U.N. withdrew its personnel from Damascus, saying conditions were too dangerous.

The government said this week that it wouldn't use chemical weapons on its own people after President Barack Obama warned that doing so would be "totally unacceptable."

But U.S. officials said this week that the government had ordered its Chemical Weapons Corps to "be prepared," which Washington interpreted as a directive to begin bringing together the components needed to weaponize Syria's chemical stockpiles.

That process would involve mixing "precursor" chemicals for the deadly nerve gas sarin, which could be used in artillery shells, U.S. officials told NBC News, stressing that there was no evidence that process had as yet begun.

U.S. officials had long believed that the Syrian government was stockpiling the banned chemical weapons before it acknowledged possessing them this summer.

NBC News reported in July that U.S. intelligence agencies believed that in addition to sarin, Syria had access to tabun, a chemical nerve agent, as well as traditional chemical weapons like mustard gas and hydrogen cyanide.

Officials told NBC News at the time that the Syrian government was moving the outlawed weapons around the country, leaving foreign intelligence agencies unsure where they might end up.

Syria is one of only seven nations that hasn't ratified the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, the arms control agreement that outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of such weapons.

Bombshells filled with chemicals can be carried by Syrian Air Force fighter-bombers, in particular Sukhoi-22/20, MiG-23 and Sukhoi-24 aircraft. In addition, some reports indicate that unguided short-range Frog-7 artillery rockets may be capable of carrying chemical payloads.

In terms of longer-range delivery systems, Syria has a few dozen SS-21 ballistic missiles with a maximum range of 72 miles; 200 Scud-Bs, with a maximum range of 180 miles; and 60 to 120 Scud-Cs, with a maximum range of 300 miles, all of which are mobile and are capable of carrying chemical weapons, according U.S. intelligence officials.

[Razgovory]

How exactly are they "locked and loaded" if they haven't been put on planes and they chemicals haven't been mixed yet?

[CountDeMoney]

How exactly are they "locked and loaded" if they haven't been put on planes and they chemicals haven't been mixed yet?

It's Timmay that's locked and loaded.  Don't worry about it, it's just his usual Happy Puppy Assburger's overreaction bullshit.

[Sheilbh]

Probably, yes.

Shouldn't necessarily intervene to remove Assad but should intervene to hurt Syria's chemical weapon capabilities and to secure the weapons if necessary (Pentagon estimates 75 000 troops needed).  Israel's worried about this too, they've apparently asked the Jordanians for permission to attack.  Many of the facilities are near the Jordanian border and so far the Jordanians have told the Israelis to hold off.  In their view the time isn't right and they expect retaliation.

[Admiral Yi]

I get the impression the Jordanians have some smart cookies running the place.