A catastrophic attack has hit the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib today, with heavy airstrikes around the area including what is being described by locals as a “gas attack.” At least 100 people have been killed, and another 400 are suffering from respiratory problems, with the toll expected to grow, according to the Union of Medical Care Organizations.
Exactly what the nature of the “gas attack” was is totally uncertain. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described it as causing many people to choke, and some to foam at the mouth. As of yet there is no confirmation on what sort of attack it was, though rebel groups were all quick to blame the Syrian Army.
The Syrian Army, for its part, denied the use of any chemical or other toxic material in any of its airstrikes, saying they have not and will not use chemical weapons in the civil war. Syria, of course, gave up its chemical arsenal years ago as well.
Whatever happened, the hospitals in the vicinity were quickly overwhelmed with the hundreds of casualties. Health officials in Idlib said they believed the attack to involve sarin, or chlorine, and that planes had attacked medical sites after the incident.
Turkey issued a statement immediately declaring the incident a “crime against humanity,” and France has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting related to the attack.
Neocons/Turkey/KSA/Israel will blame Assad.Our media will attribute it to Assad too.
However it looks like another false flag attack to attack Assad IMO. It would be against Assad’s interests to use chemical weapons. He is winning the war and why would he invite the wrath of the western world by doing such a thing?
Yea right . . . just when Syria and Russia have the upper hand in the battle Assad is going to do something this stupid in front of the whole world and to his own people? Up till now the atrocities have been part of the mercenary “terrorists” game plan to destabilize and terrorize Syria into dumping Assad. This hasn’t changed one bit! With their back against the wall and their sponsors(USA, Israel, Saudi Arabia) being outed for what they are(state-sponsored terrorists), desperation has set in and desperate acts come from desperate people.
A genuine chemical weapons attack would produce thousands of casualties. The relatively small number of casualties is more consistent with an accidental release from a rebel chemical weapons cache damaged in a government attack, as the Russians have claimed.
Yep.
When this turns out to have been done by the Islamists, no-one who called for a military attack on Assad’s forces will retract anything.
I’m just gonna come out and f**king say it (kinda my specialty).
ERDOGAN DID IT!
He did last time.
Exactly.
At one time Syria had chemical weapons as a counter to Israeli nukes, those have been removed. Chemical weapons would have to either be imported or manufactured.
That’s aside from the likelihood of this being Regime Change for Dummies having sold too many copies.
Do something horrible and blame it on the government you wish to overthrow. Make lots of noise in the media controlled by your interests to that effect. Rinse, repeat.
It is illogical to believe Assad would use CW’s so if poisonous gas has killed dozens of people, the question is who did it and how? (We know the ‘why’).
If the insurgents did it, where did they get the materials? Another foreign government? If so, which one? Turkey? (I am not going to Israel).
How was it done? If it accompanied a Syrian strike, then it is possible that CWs were planted around the target – or maybe the insurgents were storing CWs for later use. Or was just this a sophisticated false flag operation?
I have not seen any of this on Drudge or MSM yet so, if it is a false flag attack, they haven’t finished dotting their ‘i’s and crossing their ‘t’s yet.
It is pretty insane to think that the dictator of Syria who has no problems bombing schools and hospitals, would continue to use chemical weapons. Only a complete idiot would think that Assad would be above committing war crimes.
Even if Assad DID order this chemical attack(which we all know he didn’t!) it is NOTHING compared to what the USA, Israel and Saudi Arabia have been doing to Syria for FIVE LONG YEARS!
Really? You are really that stupid? So if there is a serial killer loose in your town I should have no problems going to your house and murdering you? After all, it will be nothing to kill a single retard since other people are killing other people. Come on dipshit, murdering people with chemical weapons is not OK, no matter what. You have only your own fantasies to help you pretend Assad did not order this chemical attack or any of the other dozen chemical attacks. Only a fool would repeat Russian propaganda, just like only a fool would repeat American propaganda. I don’t suffer fools.
I don’t know who ordered or carried out this particular attack. Neither do you, unless it was you.
From where I sit, it looks like it would be an incredibly stupid decision for Assad to make — when you’re already winning a war, why give your foreign enemies another public excuse to intervene on behalf of your domestic enemies? — and it is therefore tempting to assume he didn’t.
But you know what happens when we assume, and politicians make stupid decisions all the time.
We may never know what happened, why, or one whose orders. But regardless of what happened, why, or on whose orders, the US should get the hell out of Syria where it has precisely zero legitimate business.
“…the dictator of Syria…”
Assad is not a dictator. He has been elected twice, most recently in 2014. And last April, his party won a comfortable majority in Syria’s parliament. Assad, was an ophthalmologist before agreeing to take over after his father’s death in 2000 – he was not groomed to replace him.
Assad’s wife, Asma, is British and has degrees in computer science and French literature. She has worked as an investment banker. The Assads speak multiple foreign languages and could have lived comfortably anywhere. Assad has always said he would step down if the Syrian people didn’t want him. Assad is an Alawite, Asma is a Sunni. They are, or were, the best hope for Syria.
That is so amazing. A nation at war, with millions of citizens in areas where a vote could not and did not take place, with no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press, no freedom to assemble, with torture and murder the main punishment for anyone who openly opposes the government, with only closely allied nations acting as “observers” was elected? I really don’t think anyone is that stupid. Unless of course you also think that Saddam Hussein was elected fairly, and Qaddafi, and Putin, and Stalin for that matter. Only if you don’t really understand how elections work could you think that. But maybe you are another child posting in this forum. I would say let your parents know before you play on the computer and leave the real discussions to the adults. Thanks little guy.
“A nation at war”
Many nations have conducted elections while at war, including ours. You are obviously naive about how evil the US government is today. Go to bed.
I saw some idiot talking head on CNN trying desperately to say Assad did it to “test” Trump. I guess people can now say the dumbest things possible and never be questioned. Why on Earth would Assad want to “test” Trump right after Trump and Tillerson said that we were no longer calling for his removal? Short answer, he wouldn’t. There is no reason on Earth why Assad would do this, none. There are however plenty of reasons why people would like to blame him for the attack.
What’s truly pathetic about the MSM is that they don’t even try to be credible anymore. They must know that the only people still listening to them are so incapable of critical thinking that they will simply buy anything no matter how ridiculous it is.
Assad’s military did not do this or any of Assad’s forces. Assad has won and he not only has the backing of Russia and Iran but now Tillerson saying Assad is no longer up for regime change so why on earth would Assad do this? right. He didn’t. False flag.
Absolutely, False Flag or they hit a chemical factory and now they are just trying to pin it on Assad. It amounts to the same either way. My money’s on a false flag though. Too many people want Assad gone and blaming him for a chemical attack would be about the only way that’s going to happen right now.
RT reports today that a Russian airstrike destroyed a IS chemical weapon depot in Syria yesterday.
Why do you guys love Russian propaganda so much? Are you just naive or are you paid operatives? If you see Fox air a segment “proving” Obama wiretapped Trump based on conjecture and assumption, you know they are lying to make Trump look like less of an idiot. But if RT airs a segment “proving” the rebels in Syria are evil terrorists with chemical weapons then you say “Thank you, can I have more Bullshit to gobble up!”
You’re probably a troll but if you believe what you are writing I suggest you go cold turkey on the corporate media propaganda and find out how different the world looks. Also, try a be a little more civil.
Perhaps becuase 90% of these shock attrocity stories have proven to either staged or fabricated altogether. The international investigation into the original “red line” incident already debunked that story as a lie as well.
Besides, Assad know he would be assassinated by the Russians for making a fool of Putin by ordering such an attack under the noses of Russian forces.
You mean, in the official reports that say it was definitely a chemical attack and the ones who committed it have access to military weapons and training, like these:
https://disarmament-library.un.org/UNODA/Library.nsf/780cfafd472b047785257b1000501037/e4d4477c9b67de9085257bf800694bd2/$FILE/A%2067%20997-S%202013%20553.pdf
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2013-09-16/secretary-generals-remarks-security-council-report-united-nations
http://www.refworld.org/docid/53182eed4.html
It was not fabrication that Chemical agents were used in 2013, however the conclusion presented by the interventionists were not supported by the independent report “… In no incident was the commission’s evidentiary threshold met with respect to the perpetrator.” This is part of the reason military action couldn’t be sold to European parliaments and while this information was widely withheld by the North American media, enough people new about it to make Capitol Hill hesitant as well.
There has been subsequent use of Chem weapons by Jihadists in Syria and Iraq so they clearly have some access to it.
Oh, so the attack you claimed was debunked as a lie, is now a real attack. But the media is withholding information, and when I point that out you will change that statement as well? Come on man, you don’t need to make things up. Some Jihadists have used the remains of chemical weapons to make attacks, but they have never produced toxic gas and weaponized it, That is way beyond their tech level. And no, just because you speculate that Assad would be assassinated by the Russians that has no bearing on anything. I speculate that the Russians would never harm Assad since he is the only one keeping the government operating.
You don’t want the US in another pointless Middle East war. I completely understand. So you can stop lying and making stuff up to try and bolster your point, I agree with it.
The mainstream media is guilty of war crimes big time! They allow USA “leaders” to commit terrible crimes that are based on sheer nonsense and lies! If there are any eventual war crimes trials(there should be!) the CEO’s who steer teh content of the MSM should be indicted and convicted of obstruction of justice in hiding the terrible truth from the American populace!
All I need to know that it was a false flag attack by the rebels is when John McCain opens his mouth about the attack blaming Assad. Too bad Trump hadn’t drained the swamp but instead surrounded himself with NEOCON RATS.
I’m not sure about this. I honestly think that the rebels did this in order to build the case for war. Let’s wait for all the facts before beating the war drums.
Who benefits?
It’s certainly not in Assad’s interest.
I’m curious to see what Russia says.
Here we go again.
Another side of the story:
https://www.rt.com/news/383522-syria-idlib-warehouse-strike-chemical/
Syria gave up its chemical weapons after the False Flag attack years ago in Damascus. Through Russian and US mediation, these weapons are long gone. There is no way the Russians would have allowed the Syrian Army to keep or use these weapons. False Flag folks.
I wouldn’t assume they’re 100% gone. There could always have been some stash that hardly anyone knew about and after seeing what happened in Libya, it’s not unfathomable that either Assad himself or perhaps a senior security official acting on his own, decided to protect it for a rainy day.
But it’s practically unfathomable that it would be used at this particular time and circumstance.
Assad would never double cross the Russians. it would be his political assassination or even worse. Russian MOD is reporting a rebel chemical weapons factory was bombed to smithereens by the Russian Air force near Idlib.
Islamists have already used Chem in the Mosul fighting just last month. Wouldn’t surprise me if more chemical agents have been transferred to the rebel strongholds in Syria along with the fighters who were allowed to leave Mosul during the pause in fighting. ..
This garbage is exactly why I no longer contribute to Anti-war.com. In the zeal to blame the warmongering West, other warmongerers are given cover by this website to commit war crimes. I once thought this site would condemn any war, not just the ones perpetrated by western nations.
You make no sense. The article does not blame the west. Are you upset antiwar.com is not a mouth peice for western propaganda? If that’s what you want, you have 1000 mainstream media websites to choose from.
I’m upset because Antiwar.com is a mouth piece for Russian Propaganda. I would like it to hold all powers to account, not just American and Western European.
What do you consider “held to account” to mean? If you think it means bombing the excrement out of them, yes, anti war dot com probably won’t suit your tastes. But it also means your tastes are scary.
I would consider treating war crimes and atrocities the same, regardless who commits them. Should we condemn the United States and Saudi Arabia for bombing and killing civilians, for using banned weapons like phosphorus? Yes of course we should. Should we condemn Russia and Syria for using chemical weapons and bombing hospitals? Of course we should. RT is not a real news organization, just like Fox is not a real news organization and MSNBC is not a real news organization. Why accept one sides propaganda and reject anothers? Lets reject all the propaganda and seek the truth.
Absolutely everyone suspected of a war crime should be investigated, and where there is evidence, put on trial, and if convicted, then punished.
However, I don’t simply assume that either side are guilty without evidence. I have seen no evidence that the USA, Russia, or Syria are deliberately targeting civilians. Truth is the first casualty of war, and the pro western propaganda machine is 1000 times better funded than the pro eastern version. The same hospital in Aleppo was reportedly bombed by Syria and Russia a dozen times before the city fell. If the Syrian govt was targeting it, it would have been destroyed the first time. I don’t believe the worst about Israel & America’s strategic opponents just because Rupert Murdoch wants me to.
Must suck to be upset over something that’s clearly untrue.
We are living in a time when everyone who disagrees withte group think in defense, intelligence and foreign policy instiiutions is automatically a Kremlin agent…
Does it not make sense that we are more concerned with the actions of the governments which are supposedly representing and accountable to us?
Russia is NOT making any decisions with American or Canadian taxpayer’s dollars nor assigning our service people to combat situations, not ordering drone strikes in our names, nor increasing our footprint in the middle east which ultimately pins a bull’s eye on all of our backs.
I am sure that Russian dissident groups also spend the majority of their time opposing and critiquing the Russian government and establishment’s rather than giving equal weight to the actions of other nations.
Because the proper place for one’s concern and action should be in THEIR OWN HOUSE.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is a dingy office in London that seeks the overthrow of Assad. Not neutral in any way. Kinda like the Southern Poverty Law Center that only sees hate crimes by one set of actors.
In the real world anything is possible. THere would appear 3 possibilities.
Each I give the following probabilities.
An airstrike hit a chemical plant. 60%
A planned false flag operation. 35%
Syrian military responsible 5%
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is a Tool of Western Propaganda
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is a Tool of Western Propaganda
http://journal-neo.org/2015/12/12/the-syrian-observatory-for-human-rights-is-a-tool-of-western-propaganda/
Yes! And thankfully we have a Russian controlled media to explain why anyone who opposes Russian interests is part of Western Propaganda.
Pertinent: the smell of chlorine gas cannot be missed and Saran can be quite easily produced.
Sounds like they bombed a covert weapons factory releasing the gas. I frankly cannot see the government using chemical weapons like this, they are winning on all fronts and don’t seem to be desperate.
No, you get it wrong tom.
http://www.refworld.org/docid/53182eed4.html
https://disarmament-library.un.org/UNODA/Library.nsf/780cfafd472b047785257b1000501037/e4d4477c9b67de9085257bf800694bd2/$FILE/A%2067%20997-S%202013%20553.pdf
Syria was not exonerated from the chemical attack in any way. The reports state that only a group with military equipment and training could have conducted the attack. And since the only one with motive is Assad, it seems very improbable it was anyone else. And clearly you have not followed the conflict very closely, since it began with peaceful protesters murdered day after day, week after week until some of them began fighting back. Go back and read some international reporting from 2011. Any and every single Russian media controlled by the Russian government spouts this line about how the rebels are making and using chemical weapons, but no one with a serious interest in this buys that BS. Since you have a narrative that you have dreamed up, you simply don’t want to accept anything other than your fantasy.