Syria Submits More Details on Chemical Program to Experts

Early Disarmament Process Progressing Well

Following up on an early preliminary list of its chemical arsenal two weeks ago, Syria has submitted additional documents containing more details about the program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the UN is confirming.

The international inspectors on the ground in Syria have reported their early work on the ground has been “encouraging,” and with large numbers of additional experts set to arrive next week, things look well ahead of schedule on the disarmament.

The initial schedule for disarmament, according to Western officials, hoped to have disarmament entirely completed by summer of 2014, and while that seemed ridiculous at the time (the US has been disarming for nearly 50 years and still isn’t done) it is looking promising now.

This is especially the case because, according to officials familiar with the program, the vast majority of Syria’s stockpile are “unweaponized” raw materials, and it is believed to be fairly straightforward to neutralize.

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.