Salaf_us_Saleh
Junior Member
NBC News quoted an unnamed US official as saying there was evidence that the bombs, loaded with the chemical weapon, could be dropped on the Syrian people from fighter planes once president Basah al-Assad gives the order.
If it proves to be true, the move would be a dramatic escalation in the conflict in Syria, which could lead to US involvement.
Earlier this week, US officials said the regime had begun mixing the chemicals to make the deadly sarin gas.
Sarin, used in two terrorist attacks in Japan in the 1990s, is a man-made nerve agent which can cause convulsions, respiratory failure and death.
The Syrian regime has never overtly admitted having chemical weapons, though it is believed by western analysts to have the biggest stocks in the Middle East. It has also denied it would ever use chemical weapons against its own people.
The official told NBC News that the chemicals had now been put into bombs, although the bombs had not been loaded onto planes and Mr Assad had not ordered them to be used.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has reiterated that Mr Assad would be crossing "a red line" if he used chemical weapons against his people.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...a-has-loaded-chemical-weapons-into-bombs.html
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NBC News reports that Syria's military has loaded nerve-gas chemicals into bombs and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad.
U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday to NBC that bombs had been filled with precursors for deadly sarin but that they had yet been loaded onto planes. On Tuesday, officials said there was no evidence the process had begun.
On Monday, a senior Pentagon official told the Associated Press that U.S. intelligence had detected movement of chemical weapon components at one site.
Fox News cites a senior U.S. official as saying the bombs must be used within 60 days or the chemical expires and must be destroyed.
At least three facilities produce Syria's chemical weapons, according to Global Security. They are located near Damascus, Hama, and Safira, near Aleppo, the heart of the opposition.
President Obama warned Assad of "consequences" if chemical weapons are used against rebellious Syrians.
STORY: Obama warns Assad on chemical weapons
"The world is watching," Obama said Monday during a Washington symposium on nuclear non-proliferation. "If you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences, and you will be held accountable."
"We simply cannot allow the 21st century to be darkened by the worst weapons of the 20th century," he added.
In 1988, the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein gassed Kurds with sarin, killing an estimated 5,000 men, women and children.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday again warned Assad to not use such weapons against his people.
"Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria," Clinton said in Brussels after NATO foreign ministers authorized the deployment of an anti-missile system in Turkey. "And so, as part of the absolute unity that we all have on this issue, we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account."
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday called Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons "a matter of great concern" that adds to the urgency of deploying the Patriot missiles in Turkey. He called any use of chemical weapons "completely unacceptable," saying it would result in "an immediate reaction."
Syria is one of eight nations that has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention. The others are Angola, Egypt, Israel, Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia and South Sudan. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon urged Syria last week to join the treaty.
In a statement Wednesday, the United Nations' Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons called the use or threat of use of chemical weapons "unacceptable."
" As a party to the 1925 Geneva Protocol, Syria is obligated by international law not to use chemical weapons under any circumstances," the statement said. "The Syrian Government must also ensure the safety and security of any stocks of chemical weapons it may possess."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...rin-nerve-gas-chemicals-loaded-bombs/1749673/
If it proves to be true, the move would be a dramatic escalation in the conflict in Syria, which could lead to US involvement.
Earlier this week, US officials said the regime had begun mixing the chemicals to make the deadly sarin gas.
Sarin, used in two terrorist attacks in Japan in the 1990s, is a man-made nerve agent which can cause convulsions, respiratory failure and death.
The Syrian regime has never overtly admitted having chemical weapons, though it is believed by western analysts to have the biggest stocks in the Middle East. It has also denied it would ever use chemical weapons against its own people.
The official told NBC News that the chemicals had now been put into bombs, although the bombs had not been loaded onto planes and Mr Assad had not ordered them to be used.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has reiterated that Mr Assad would be crossing "a red line" if he used chemical weapons against his people.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...a-has-loaded-chemical-weapons-into-bombs.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBC News reports that Syria's military has loaded nerve-gas chemicals into bombs and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad.
U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday to NBC that bombs had been filled with precursors for deadly sarin but that they had yet been loaded onto planes. On Tuesday, officials said there was no evidence the process had begun.
On Monday, a senior Pentagon official told the Associated Press that U.S. intelligence had detected movement of chemical weapon components at one site.
Fox News cites a senior U.S. official as saying the bombs must be used within 60 days or the chemical expires and must be destroyed.
At least three facilities produce Syria's chemical weapons, according to Global Security. They are located near Damascus, Hama, and Safira, near Aleppo, the heart of the opposition.
President Obama warned Assad of "consequences" if chemical weapons are used against rebellious Syrians.
STORY: Obama warns Assad on chemical weapons
"The world is watching," Obama said Monday during a Washington symposium on nuclear non-proliferation. "If you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences, and you will be held accountable."
"We simply cannot allow the 21st century to be darkened by the worst weapons of the 20th century," he added.
In 1988, the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein gassed Kurds with sarin, killing an estimated 5,000 men, women and children.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday again warned Assad to not use such weapons against his people.
"Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria," Clinton said in Brussels after NATO foreign ministers authorized the deployment of an anti-missile system in Turkey. "And so, as part of the absolute unity that we all have on this issue, we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account."
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday called Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons "a matter of great concern" that adds to the urgency of deploying the Patriot missiles in Turkey. He called any use of chemical weapons "completely unacceptable," saying it would result in "an immediate reaction."
Syria is one of eight nations that has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention. The others are Angola, Egypt, Israel, Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia and South Sudan. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon urged Syria last week to join the treaty.
In a statement Wednesday, the United Nations' Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons called the use or threat of use of chemical weapons "unacceptable."
" As a party to the 1925 Geneva Protocol, Syria is obligated by international law not to use chemical weapons under any circumstances," the statement said. "The Syrian Government must also ensure the safety and security of any stocks of chemical weapons it may possess."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...rin-nerve-gas-chemicals-loaded-bombs/1749673/