Amid War Threats, US Troops Prepare for Seizing Syria’s Chemical Arms

Training Continues With an Eye on Invasion

Military training missions are rarely newsworthy. Confirmations yesterday that the Obama Administration is considering attacking Syria, however, makes the mission focusing on seizing Syria’s chemical arsenal particularly important.

The 82nd Airborne is training in North Carolina this week with an explicit eye on capturing Syrian chemical weapons, and if the US does invade Syria, that’s going to be a major mission early on.

It’s not so much the Syrian government’s possession of the weapons that is the concern, though they have said they would use them to resist invasion, but what happens when the US-backed rebels seize such arms, particularly with so many closely allied to al-Qaeda fighters.

Officials are couching this as the first time US troops might be involved in chemical arms since the Iraq War, though since Iraq didn’t actually have any and Syria in fact is know to, there is a pretty big distinction.

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.