Destroying Syria's Chemical Weapons Is Not Going To Be Easy (Updated)

A handout photo released to Reuters on September 13, 2013 by Hotzone Solutions Group shows ''Dieter Rothbacher, Co-Owner/Director Operations of Hotzone Solutions Group, next to containers filled with tons of Nerve Agent in Al Muthanna 1993'' as described by Rothbacher in The Hague. REUTERS/Dieter Rothbacher, Co-Owner/Director Operations of Hotzone Solutions Group/Handout via REUTERS

Destroying Syria's Chemical Weapons Is A Daunting Task -- Reuters

(Reuters) - There are no easy answers and a striking lack of precedents when it comes to the practicalities of destroying Syria's stockpile of poisonous munitions, one of the largest in the world.

The international body that would take on the task, if it is ever finalized, has never shipped such weapons abroad to be destroyed, because of the risks of transporting them, and it is not clear where they could go.

Neither, however, has it ever sent inspectors into a war zone for a cleanup operation.

Burning vast quantities of toxic chemicals alone is time consuming and risky. Separating them from ammunition in pre-loaded weapons is something else entirely.

Weapons experts believe Syria has a thousand tons of lethal nerve agent spread across some 50 sites. No one knows how much of that total -- enough to fill 100 dump trucks -- is already inside munitions.

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My Comment: It does not help the situation if Syria is now scrambling to hide their stockpiles.