Security Brief: Syrias War Machine Up and Running; Chemical Weapons Revelations

https://www.yahoo.com/news/security-brief-syria-war-machine-121738151.html

By Elias Groll, with Robbie Gramer, Dan De Luce, and Rhys Dubin

Another day in Syria. Just two days after the United States, France, and Britain struck three sites associated with Syria’s chemical weapons program, Bashar al-Assad’s war machine was up and running again, with forces loyal to the president carrying out at least 28 strikes around Homs and Hama, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The limited strikes, in retaliation for a poison gas attack on the Syrian enclave on Douma, reflect a cold calculus: the United States has no intention of using its firepower to halt the mass killing of civilians through conventional means, degrade Syria’s military forces, or to challenge Russia and Iran’s military positions is Syria.

American military officials said the missile volley had struck the heart of the Syrian chemical weapons complex, but noted that Syria retains the ability to deliver chemical weapons. Serious questions remain about the extent of the damage inflicted on Syria’s chemical weapons program. According to a “senior official in a regional alliance that backs Damascus” quoted by Reuters, “the sites that were targeted had been evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia.”

Capt. Adulsalam Abdulrazek, a former officer in Syria’s chemical program, told the Associated Press that the strikes likely hit “parts of, but not the heart” of Assad’s poison gas infrastructure. Abdulrazek told the AP he doubts the strike will curb Assad’s ability to use chemical weapons or produce them in the future.