Western Diplomats Hype ‘Trace’ Chemical Findings in Syria

US Officials Push to Punish Syria

On Thursday, diplomats were openly talking about the US trying to figure out ways to kickstart a new round of chemical weapons allegations against Syria, saying the US was looking to “create a way to attribute blame” for rumors of chlorine gas use.

By Friday morning, like clockwork, Western diplomats were making the rounds with a new set of claims related to trace amounts of chemical agents found at a military research site in Syria, with the US declaring it proof Syria had been lying about its chemical weapons program.

Syria had a massive chemical weapons program at once point, but the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has already confirmed the destruction of those weapons and facilities.

The US has been resenting this for some time, as the disarmament agreement threw a monkey wrench into their 2013 plans to invade Syria, and has been looking to come up with some way to spin the disarmament as incomplete.

The reality, of course, is that the chlorine releases in Syria, declared “weapons” by the US, have largely been explained away as conventional attacks causing chemical leaks at industrial sites during urban combat.

US officials have treated explanations for such incidents not only as not credible, but not particularly welcome, and are trying to find any excuse to push new UN Security Council action against Syria.

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.