President Barack Obama admitted that he has seen evidence of chemical weapons being used in Syria.
However, he said that after speaking with the prime minister of Turkey that it was important to get more specific details about the attacks. His statement comes as residents of a town in northern Syria told the BBC that Syrian troops dropped poison gas canisters from helicopters. Continue reading
Turkey’s prime minister is making a bold claim that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against citizens that it crosses the “red line” declared months ago by U.S. President Barack Obama.
“It has been passed a long time ago,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told NBC News’ Ann Curry during an exclusive interview on Thursday. “We want the United States to assume more responsibilities and take further steps. And what sort of steps they will take, we are going to talk about this.” Continue reading
In the midst of the Syrian Civil War, intelligence officials around the world are concerned that Syria’s chemical weapons facility could fall into the hands of al-Qaeda.
The factory outside al-Safira is in the midst of intense fighting between rebels and government forces. The plant is located inside one of the government’s most fortified military bases. Continue reading
On the heels of Secretary of State John Kerry saying that Israel had not provided evidence that Syria used chemical weapons against rebels, U.S. intelligence officials admitted they believe with “varying degrees of confidence” that Syria has used chemical weapons.
The White House said that the sarin nerve agent had been used on what they termed a “small scale”. The announcement was in a letter to members of Congress. Continue reading
Israeli military officials have stated that Syrian troops have used chemical weapons multiple times against the rebels seeking to overthrow the government of President al-Bashir.
Brigadier General Itai Brun said that military intelligence believes that the chemical weapon used was the deadly nerve gas sarin. Continue reading
The Syrian army is moving their chemical weapons for what is being called “security reasons” by U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
Panetta believes all the weapons caches are still under military control.
“We’ve continued to monitor,” Panetta told CNN. “We are working with countries in the region to ensure that we have the best information possible.” Continue reading
President Obama has told reporters that the use of chemical weapons by Syria would be a “red line” that would change his position about US military intervention in Syria’s civil war.
“There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front,” the President said in a Tuesday press conference. “A red line for us is [if] we see a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus.” Continue reading
World powers have a growing concern that the unrest in Syria could lead to terrorists gaining control of a secret stockpile of chemical weapons. Syria is one of eight nations to refuse to join the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention meaning there’s no way to know the amount of chemical weapons or the types of weapons currently under the control of the Syrian government. Continue reading