West In Denial Over Syria Chemical Weapons Use -- Michael Weiss, NOW
Following allegations from Britain, France, Israel, and Qatar that the Syrian regime had deployed chemical weapons in Aleppo and Damascus, the Obama administration yesterday confirmed that U.S. intelligence, "with varying degrees of confidence," shared the same view. In a letter sent to Senators Carl Levin and John McCain, the White House's Congressional liaison Miguel Rodriguez added that this assessment was "based in part on physiological samples" and that the agent used was most likely sarin. Rodriguez further stipulated that any such use would "very likely having originated with the Assad regime," although how victims may have been exposed to the deadly nerve agent remains undetermined. According to The Financial Times, two different sets of blood samples were analyzed, one by American authorities, the other by Britain's Defence Science Technology Laboratory. Perhaps reacting to the initial skepticism of administration officials, anonymously quoted in a New York Times article that threw cold water on the IDF's foremost intelligence analyst's claims of sarin use, Israel's deputy defense minister Danny Danon today told CNN today: "I will not go into specifics, but I can tell you very clear [sic] that we know that Syria has used chemical weapons."
Read more ....
Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
Syrian regime's core supporters begin to drift away -- Tom Peter, Christian Science Monitor
Is the U.S. Set to Intervene in Syria? -- Matthew Duss, American Prospect
Karzai’s ‘ghost money’—he warned us in 2008 -- Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News/The Ticket
Analysis: Israeli credibility on line over Iran nuclear challenge -- Crispian Balmer and Dan Williams, Reuters
The Israelis can benefit from this period of quiet -- David Ignatius, Daily Star
Are British universities training Iranian nuclear physicists? The Foreign Office doesn't want to tell us -- Matthew Holehouse, The Telegraph
Will pre-election violence impact Pakistan's elections? -- Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor
Is Pakistan a Failing State? -- Gustav Ranis, Real Clear World
Germany Isn't Stupid; It Has a French Nightmare -- Marc Champion, Bloomberg
Crisis Has Europe Clamoring to Mine -- Luke Dale-Harris, Spiegel Online
The European dream is in dire need of a reality check -- Simon Jenkins, The Guardian
Will Boston Probe Falter Like Benghazi? -- Debra Saunders, Real Clear Politics
Benghazi report revives troubling questions -- Michael Barone, Washington Examiner
Is your wardrobe killing Bangladeshis, or saving them? -- Doug Sanders, The Globe and Mail
Defense cuts pose an economic quandary for liberals -- Zachary A. Goldfarb, Washington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment