The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has confirmed a major milestone in the Syrian chemical disarmament program, confirming the destruction of all chemical munitions in the country.
The disarmament of Syria’s massive program is being done in stages, with the first step rendering production facilities inoperable, and then the existing munitions being destroyed. With that done, attention will turn to removing the non-weaponized chemical agents from the country for disincorporation.
Getting that done is harder than it sounds, with the plan to ship the chemicals out by sea, through the port of Latakia, under serious jeopardy because of the Syrian civil war. Much of Latakia’s territory is under rebel control.
Either way, with the destruction of the filling machines, and now the destruction of the unfilled munitions, nobody is going to be able to readily use those chemicals for anything, but the deadline for getting them out of Syria is still June, and that’s going to be a struggle.
The final destruction of chemical weapons in Syria will be quickly followed by an invasion by American and Israeli forces. The ridding of chemical weapons changes nothing except it makes the coming incursion "a little safer" – for the invaders, that is.