No Proof, But Western Officials Convinced of Syria ‘Chemical Attack’

Rebels Agree to Let Investigators Into Site

There’s still no real proof and UN inspectors haven’t even gotten to the site, but Western officials say they have “little or no doubt” that Wednesday’s Ghouta incident was a chemical weapons attack.

They’re not only willing to buy the rebels’ version of events, they went a step further and say that the attack “likely” had direct approval from top officials in the Assad government.

The Obama Administration is calling for a “full investigation” by UN investigators, and the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), one of the rebel factions, agreed to “guarantee the safety” of investigators.

Other rebels say they’re trying to smuggle evidence to the UN, but they’re already downplaying the prospect of it amounting to anything, saying they haven’t got much equipment and are constantly fighting the Syrian government so their evidence could be “damaged” en route.

With Turkey and France already calling for war without the proof and most of the decision-makers already convinced, there’s little reason to think that anyone’s minds will be changed even if the investigation fails to turn up what they’d hoped for.

After all, even though the UN investigators said the previous attack was almost certainly launched by the rebels, Western officials continue to present that as the Assad government’s doing as well.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.