Is The U.S. Intelligence Assessment Claiming Syrian Government Responsibility For This Weeks Chemical Attack Correct?

Robert Parry, Consortium News: Trump’s ‘Wag the Dog’ Moment

Just two days after news broke of an alleged poison-gas attack in northern Syria, President Trump brushed aside advice from some U.S. intelligence analysts doubting the Syrian regime’s guilt and launched a lethal retaliatory missile strike against a Syrian airfield.

Trump immediately won plaudits from Official Washington, especially from neoconservatives who have been trying to wrestle control of his foreign policy away from his nationalist and personal advisers since the days after his surprise victory on Nov. 8.

There is also an internal dispute over the intelligence. On Thursday night, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. intelligence community assessed with a “high degree of confidence” that the Syrian government had dropped a poison gas bomb on civilians in Idlib province.

But a number of intelligence sources have made contradictory assessments, saying the preponderance of evidence suggests that Al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were at fault, either by orchestrating an intentional release of a chemical agent as a provocation or by possessing containers of poison gas that ruptured during a conventional bombing raid.

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WNU Editor: I would like to believe that U.S. intelligence community is fast and efficient .... and they were correct in assessing blame on the Syrian government for last weeks chemical attack on a civilian target in Syria .... an assessment that (I can only hope) was based on Syrian air force flight paths, intercepted communications, and having people on the ground who are knowledgeable on conducting the right forensics after a chemical attack. But what happens if that is not the case. That the U.S. intel community made their assessment based solely on Syrian rebel reports and those in the media who support them .... and because of political pressure did so within 48 - 72 hours. I could be wrong .... but my gut is telling me that it is impossible for anyone to determine the type and origins of a chemical attack within 48-72 hours .... doubly so in a war-zone where independent access is completely restricted. Sighhh .... but there is one thing that everyone is agreement with .... the images in the above video are graphic and they show the aftermath of some form of chemical attack that claimed scores of lives. And that is all that it shows.

Update: Speaking of theories and conspiracies .... this one takes the cake .... MSNBC host’s conspiracy theory: What if Putin planned the Syrian chemical attack to help Trump? (Washington Post).

Update #2: Yup .... Confused About Syria, You Should Be (Zero hedge).

Update #3: I said in the above .... but my gut is telling me that it is possible for anyone to determine the type and origins of a chemical attack within 48-72 hours. What I meant to say was .... but my gut is telling me that it is impossible for anyone to determine the type and origins of a chemical attack within 48-72 hours. I have since corrected this misunderstanding. Hmmmm ... I should stop posting when I am about to fall asleep. :)