U.S. Intelligence Agencies Had Intel Three Days Before Syria Launched It's Massive Chemical Attack Last Week

Activists inspect the bodies of people they say were killed in a toxic gas attack. (Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)

U.S. Had Intel On Chemical Strike Before It Was Launched -- The Cable/Foreign Policy

American intelligence agencies had indications three days beforehand that the Syrian regime was poised to launch a lethal chemical attack that killed more than a thousand people and has set the stage for a possible U.S. military strike on Syria.

The disclosure -- part of a larger U.S. intelligence briefing on Syria's chemical attacks -- raises all sorts of uncomfortable questions for the American government. First and foremost: What, if anything, did it do to notify the Syrian opposition of the pending attack?

In a call with reporters Friday afternoon, senior administration officials did not address whether this information was shared with rebel groups in advance of the attack. A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the information had been shared.

Read more ....

My Comment: If the U.S. had intel three days before the Syrians launched their chemical attack .... why did the intelligence community decide to not warn their political masters (and everyone else) on what was about to happen. Was the intel deliberately ignored .... or deemed inconclusive and put on the shelf. Like much of what is being reported on Syria .... this is another report that raises more questions and doubts than answers.