Chemical Warfare History Riddled with False Accusations, Expert Said

Chemical weapons and Syria: we need evidence-based, international justice: The history of chemical and biological warfare is riddled with false allegations, misinformation and propaganda by James Revill, "a research fellow with the Harvard Sussex Program at SPRU, which researches public policy on issues involving biological and chemical weapons"

It is certainly possible that the Assad regime has employed chemical weapons, but the timing of the attack, occurring so shortly after the arrival of inspectors, so close to where they are currently operating and when the regime is winning in the two-year conflict, raises questions. As such, is it entirely reasonable to discount the possibility, raised by Carla Del Ponte of the UNHCR in relation to earlier allegations, that "the rebels have used chemical weapons"?

UN's Carla Del Ponte says there is evidence rebels 'may have used sarin' in Syria, The Independent UK, May 6, 2013.

Carla Del Ponte, a member of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said that testimony gathered from casualties and medical staff indicated that the nerve agent sarin was used by rebel fighters.

“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,” Ms Del Ponte said in an interview broadcast on Swiss-Italian television on Sunday.

“This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities,” she added.

Revill suggests a legal approach to handle the August 21 incident with careful investigation to find an evidence based solution in the courtroom, instead of punitive military strikes, which he compares to justice of the wild west, versus western justice.  

Shooting first, asking questions later did not serve Iraq well and destroyed not only that nation, but the credibility of our nation and our reputation as being a decent, civilized society.  The US invaded Iraq and heinously dropped white phosphorous on Iraqi villagers, burning the skin of men, women, and children to the bone.  

James Revill's point that the history of chemical weapons is riddled with false accusations was recently illustrated in this Guardian article on April 27, 2013, Syria nerve gas claims undermined by eyewitness accounts: Description of attack in which six rebels died adds to uncertainty about claims that sarin has been used in the conflict:

New questions have emerged over the source of the soil and other samples from Syria which, it is claimed, have tested positive for the nerve agent sarin, amid apparent inconsistencies between eyewitness accounts describing one of the attacks and textbook descriptions of the weapon.

But eyewitness accounts of that attack, in which six rebels died and which were reported at the time by the Associated Press described "white smoke" pouring from shells that "smell[ed] … like hydrochloric acid".

While the contradictions between the eyewitness accounts and traces of sarin in the samples may well be attributable to the confusion of battle, it underlines the uncertainties around the claims, which have included questions about whether some of the videotaped symptoms are consistent with sarin exposure.

James Revill:

Yet in circumstances where our knowledge is incomplete about what happened, who was responsible and how best to respond given the complexity of the conflict that has engulfed Syria, there is a need to exercise caution and precaution.

Rushing into a war with Syria is as wrong as it is foolhardy.  The AUMF does not limit our involvement to "limited strikes," but is so broad that it keeps the door wide open to boots on the ground.  Just like Iraq was not the "cake walk" promised by the warmongers,  Syria is a gamble with even higher stakes.  Russian warships are poised in the Persian Gulf.  This is a fact which the warmongers mock.  Talk about laughing in the face of danger!

The only exercise the warmongers are giving caution and precaution is throwing both to the wind.

The proxy war being fought in Syria between the Syrian Army and "rebels" many of whom are jihadist extremists, affiliated with Al Qaeda has caused 2 million refugees to flee Syria and left bombed out devastation in its wake.

Our leaders tell us that these wars pose no danger to us, but do not forget the blow back from another proxy war in Afghanistan during which the US trained and armed Al Qaeda to fight against the USSR: 9/11.  How the US can justify this blasphemy is beyond all reason.  The American people aren't buying it; let's hope the Congress will follow the lead of the UK Parliament and vote NAY on the AUMF to prove that the special interests who lobby them aren't buying them.