Western officials continue to harp on about Syria missing “deadlines” on chemical weapons disarmament, with British PM David Cameron today accusing them of “stalling” on the export of chemical precursors.
The practical matter is that the exports were supposed to take place through the port at Latakia, that the shipments would have to go deep into rebel-held territory, and that’s more than a little dangerous, what with a civil war ongoing.
Only yesterday Russian officials confirmed that plans are in place with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to get those chemicals out of the country, and predicting they would be done by month’s end.
Syrian officials reiterated that all again today, while the OPCW said the complaints were so absurd they didn’t feel the need to both, saying “the situation is evident.”
The deadlines missed were artificially imposed by the UN, but the OPCW never thought the timetable was realistic, and Syria hasn’t missed their deadlines at all.
