U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria’s civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday.
The United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapons, which are banned under international law, said commission member Carla Del Ponte.
“Our investigators have been in neighbouring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated,” Del Ponte said in an interview with Swiss-Italian television.
A total of three possible chemical attacks have been reported thus far, and several U.S. officials apparently still maintain varying levels of certainty that the Assad regime is responsible for at least one attack. That said, it will be interesting to see how the Obama Administration reacts should incontrovertible proof emerge, particularly given previous declarations that such attacks from the Syrian government would cross a “red line.”
U.S. intelligence agencies now believe that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime has used chemical weapons in its struggle to hold onto power, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.
Hagel said that the White House sent a letter to members of Congress on Thursday morning disclosing that intelligence agencies had made that assessment, which followed a series of similar conclusions reached by Britain, France and most recently Israel.
It is believed that the White House plans to increase pressure on the U.N. to get more involved in Syria, rather than involve the U.S. military; however, as Politico notes, the use of chemical weapons doesn’t appear to be the “red line” that the Obama administration once claimed.
To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against gunmen in a series of incidents in recent months.Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, research division chief for Israeli army intelligence • Claiming that Syria’s Assad government has used chemical weapons against it’s people (though offering no corroborating evidence), in remarks at the Institute for National Security Studies. of Tel Aviv University. Secretary of State John Kerry says he spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, and that the leader “was not in a position to confirm” his military’s assessment. This isn’t a new concern for the United States, which has been under some international pressure to address claims to the UN by France and Britain, both allies, also suggesting that pro-Assad forces have used chemical weaponry. This has major political and diplomatic implications for America, as the administration has engaged in “red line” rhetoric on the matter of chemical weapons. source
We have been clear that the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people would be a serious and tragic mistake. The Assad regime must understand that they will be held accountable for the use of chemical weapons or their transfer to terrorists.President Barack Obama - Commenting on the alleged usage of chemical weapons in attacks which left 25 dead and dozens injured in the Syrian city of Aleppo yesterday. Both those loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian opposition forces have blamed their opponents for the attack; however, the perpetrators of Tuesday’s attack remain a mystery at this time. Many suspect the Assad regime, given previous reports about the Syrian government’s possession of such weapons, but calls for a formal investigation into the attack have gone unanswered thus far. source
This is a red line for the United States. I am not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice it to say we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Making clear that the United States will not remain idle on the sidelines any longer if the Syrian government uses chemical weapons on civilians or rebel forces inside the country. The United States and other nations have maintained a mostly hands-off policy with regards to the conflict in Syria, instead pushing for change via diplomacy, though international pressure has yet to yield any significant results outside of occasional political defections. The Syrian government has already responded with a denial that they own such weapons, saying officials would never do such a thing “under any circumstances.” source
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