U.S. says monitoring reports of possible Syrian chemical weapon attack
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. is monitoring reports of a possible chemical weapon attack in Syria and said Russia should be held responsible if the incident did involve deadly chemicals, the State Department said on Saturday.
The statement came after a Syrian rebel group accused government forces on Saturday of dropping a barrel bomb containing poisonous chemicals on civilians in eastern Ghouta.
“The regime’s history of using chemical weapons against its own people in not in dispute,” said the State Department. “Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the brutal targeting of countless Syrians with chemical weapons.”
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa/u-s-says-monitoring-reports-of-possible-syrian-chemical-weapon-attack-idUSKBN1HE0UN
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applegrove
(118,683 posts)being penalized by the US.
elleng
(130,973 posts)State Department.
It's saying things? A good sign.
keithbvadu2
(36,828 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Certainly this isn't coming from Trump himself I wouldn't think.
David__77
(23,421 posts)That was a terrible mistake. I'm very glad that Obama did not give in to those who would have gone further with the madness of missile launches and "no fly zones."
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Should he be allowed to do so with impunity?
David__77
(23,421 posts)The UN security council might even talk about it.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)Syria especially is not something any Americans want to get in to.
Short of a large camp of daily executions or something I think the gas attacks will continue to go on without repercussion for whoever it is that's doing it.
Obama was correct about the red line, but there's nothing that can or will be done about it.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Diplomats have openly admitted it, journalists have written about it, human rights organizations have declared it - several times over in the past seven years. But what happened this week was deplorable and unacceptable, even by the very low standards we now have for the Council when it comes to Syria.
On Monday, the 15 member states of the Security Council gathered to hear a briefing on the human rights situation in Syria by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al- Hussein. But before he could start, Russia used its prerogative to call for a procedural vote on the agenda - effectively to stop the UN’s own human rights chief from telling the Council about the situation on the ground.
Russia claimed discussions on human rights are not pertinent to the Security Council’s agenda. Or in other words, the body charged with maintaining international peace and security is not a forum to discuss human rights violations taking place.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/03/a-new-low-for-the-un-security-council-as-russia-takes-syrian-human-rights-off-the-table/
Spouting1horn
(46 posts)we would ever have reason to not believe our intelligence services and the State Department when it comes to chemical weapons usage by rogue regimes. They have no reason to lie.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)The only ones denying it are the Assad regime and the Russians.
marble falls
(57,102 posts)
nitpicker
(7,153 posts)Syria war: At least 70 killed in suspected chemical attack in Douma
22 minutes ago
At least 70 people have died in a suspected chemical attack in Douma, the last rebel-held town in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, rescuers and medics say. Volunteer rescue force the White Helmets tweeted graphic images showing several bodies in basements. It said the deaths were likely to rise. There has been no independent verification of the reports.
Syria's government has called the allegations of a chemical attack a "fabrication". The US state department said reports suggested "a potentially high number of casualties", including families in shelters. It said Russia - with its "unwavering support" for Syria's government - "ultimately bears responsibility" for the alleged attacks.
(snip)
The pro-opposition Ghouta Media Center tweeted that more than 75 people had "suffocated", while a further 1,000 people had suffered the effects of the alleged attack. It blamed a barrel bomb allegedly dropped by a helicopter which it said contained Sarin, a toxic nerve agent.
The Union of Medical Relief Organizations, a US-based charity that works with Syrian hospitals, told the BBC the Damascus Rural Specialty Hospital had confirmed 70 deaths.
(snip)
hexola
(4,835 posts)nt
paleotn
(17,931 posts)missile attack on an empty air base?
oberliner
(58,724 posts)David__77
(23,421 posts)Trump could order a different missile attack that causes that.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)And just look the other way.
David__77
(23,421 posts)It was in fact one of many high points of his presidency.
I think no good would come of it.
