Kerry Accuses Syria of Violating Chemical Arms Treaty

Cites Claims of Chlorine Gas Use

Though many have touted Secretary of State John Kerry’s threats to attack Syria and the subsequent deal on chemical weapon disarmament as a success story, albeit an accidental one. Kerry’s still resenting the deal, however.

Instead of hyping the US finishing up the disincorporation of the last of Syria’s chemicals, Kerry accused Syria of “violating” the Chemical Weapons Convention by rehashing the same old months-old claim of chlorine gas use.

Kerry’s comments appear aimed at adding momentum, with the US moving against ISIS in Syria, to go after the Assad government as well. Israel chimed in today as well, claiming they believe Syria secretly kept some chemical weapons no one knew about, though they declined to provide any evidence of that beyond claims that Israel figured they had more than what was destroyed.

According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Syria shipped the last of its chemical arsenal abroad in June. This last shipment took months longer than expected, because the stockpile was located in the middle of contested territory, and rebel threats to attack the shipment made it unsafe.

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.