one simple question for the great folks of the politcal board

[actinanass]

Who, where, and how did Syria attain chemical weapons?

 

[thoughtone]

Tell us since the only time you chime in on this board is to justify some wing nut talking point.

 

[QueEx]

 

[Cruise]

Source

And guess who has been supplying the rebels in Syria with chemical weapons?

According to Associated Press correspondent Dale Gavlak, it has been the Saudis...

Syrian rebels in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta have admitted to Associated Press correspondent Dale Gavlak that they were responsible for last week’s chemical weapons incident which western powers have blamed on Bashar Al-Assad’s forces, revealing that the casualties were the result of an accident caused by rebels mishandling chemical weapons provided to them by Saudi Arabia.



“From numerous interviews with doctors, Ghouta residents, rebel fighters and their families….many believe that certain rebels received chemical weapons via the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and were responsible for carrying out the (deadly) gas attack,” writes Gavlak.

And this is someone that isn't just fresh out of journalism school. As Paul Joseph Watson noted, "Dale Gavlak’s credibility is very impressive. He has been a Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press for two decades and has also worked for National Public Radio (NPR) and written articles for BBC News."

Isn't the United States supposedly backing the rebels?

 

[Majestic Lion]

I like the part where we pretend chemical weapons in that part of the world are only available to one party.

 

[actinanass]

Tell us since the only time you chime in on this board is to justify some wing nut talking point.

I'm asking because I do not know.

You try to insult me because you do not want to know.

typical response.

 

[thoughtone]

I'm asking because I do not know.

You try to insult me because you do not want to know.

typical response.

You may not know, but you have a notion. You think Syria has the supposed chemical weapons supposedly hidden their by Saddam Hussein. Right?


source: Mother Jones


GOP Congressman Endorses Bogus Theory That Syria Got Its Chemical Weapons From Saddam

On Friday, the Obama administration released its assessment of last week's chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians. The US government "assesses with high confidence" that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad carried out the attack, and that the Syrian government has a stockpile of sarin and other chemical agents. (UN chemical weapons experts are still working to confirm details regarding the attack.) This declassification was accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry's public statement, in which he called the attack a "crime against conscience" and "crime against humanity."

Something of this magnitude will always provoke a stream of conspiracy theories, some wilder than others. In a radio interview on Thursday, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) seemed to endorse one of them.

The Huffington Post reports:

"The theory then and the evidence was that Iraq was an enemy of the United States and had direct plans in either support of Al Qaeda and/or with other weapons that we found out weren't there—which I still think they were moved to Syria," said Terry. "And it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the chemical weapons that have been used by Syria actually came from Iraq."

[...]

When Becka asked whether Terry's claim about the transfer of weapons was based on information he had received as a member of Congress, Terry replied, "Gut feeling..."

This theory isn't new. Senior Bush administration officials publicly flirted with the idea that Iraq transferred weapons to other nations. The claim has been promoted on conservative media and Fox News many times over the years. In 2007, Mitt Romney said that it was "entirely possible" that weapons of mass destruction were moved from Iraq to Syria during the run-up to the Iraq war. The thing is that there is absolutely zero credible evidence that this was ever the case. I called up the State Department to ask about the theory the congressman rehashed. The first spokesperson I talked to simply laughed. The second could only say that the State Department doesn't "have any information on that."

For a firmer rebuttal, here's an AP report from January 2005:

ntelligence and congressional officials say they have not seen any information—never "a piece," said one—indicating that WMD or significant amounts of components and equipment were transferred from Iraq to neighboring Syria, Jordan or elsewhere...The [Bush] administration acknowledged...that the search for banned weapons is largely over. The Iraq Survey Group’s chief, Charles Duelfer, is expected to submit the final installments of his report in February. A small number of the organization’s experts will remain on the job in case new intelligence on Iraqi WMD is unearthed.

But the officials familiar with the search say U.S. authorities have found no evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein transferred WMD or related equipment out of Iraq.

A special adviser to the CIA director, Duelfer declined an interview request through an agency spokesman. In his last public statements, he told a Senate panel last October that it remained unclear whether banned weapons could have been moved from Iraq.

"What I can tell you is that I believe we know a lot of materials left Iraq and went to Syria. There was certainly a lot of traffic across the border points," he said. "But whether in fact in any of these trucks there was WMD-related materials, I cannot say."

Last week, a congressional official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said suggestions that weapons or components were sent from Iraq were based on speculation stemming from uncorroborated information.

After the subsequent report was released, Duelfer gave an interview to PBS NewsHour in which he expressed doubt that Iraq transferred WMDs to Syria prior to the US-led invasion. "Syria, we had some intelligence that perhaps some materials, suspicious materials, had been moved there," he said. "We looked as closely as we could at that, there were a few leads which we were not able to fully run down, largely because of the security situation, but it's my judgment that had substantial stocks, important stocks been moved to Syria, someone would have told something to us about that."

And in the years since, no new evidence has come to light suggesting otherwise. This all seems to conflict with Rep. Terry's "gut."

 

[actinanass]

You may not know, but you have a notion. You think Syria has the supposed chemical weapons supposedly hidden their by Saddam Hussein. Right?


source: Mother Jones


GOP Congressman Endorses Bogus Theory That Syria Got Its Chemical Weapons From Saddam

On Friday, the Obama administration released its assessment of last week's chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians. The US government "assesses with high confidence" that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad carried out the attack, and that the Syrian government has a stockpile of sarin and other chemical agents. (UN chemical weapons experts are still working to confirm details regarding the attack.) This declassification was accompanied by Secretary of State John Kerry's public statement, in which he called the attack a "crime against conscience" and "crime against humanity."

Something of this magnitude will always provoke a stream of conspiracy theories, some wilder than others. In a radio interview on Thursday, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) seemed to endorse one of them.

The Huffington Post reports:

"The theory then and the evidence was that Iraq was an enemy of the United States and had direct plans in either support of Al Qaeda and/or with other weapons that we found out weren't there—which I still think they were moved to Syria," said Terry. "And it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the chemical weapons that have been used by Syria actually came from Iraq."

[...]

When Becka asked whether Terry's claim about the transfer of weapons was based on information he had received as a member of Congress, Terry replied, "Gut feeling..."

This theory isn't new. Senior Bush administration officials publicly flirted with the idea that Iraq transferred weapons to other nations. The claim has been promoted on conservative media and Fox News many times over the years. In 2007, Mitt Romney said that it was "entirely possible" that weapons of mass destruction were moved from Iraq to Syria during the run-up to the Iraq war. The thing is that there is absolutely zero credible evidence that this was ever the case. I called up the State Department to ask about the theory the congressman rehashed. The first spokesperson I talked to simply laughed. The second could only say that the State Department doesn't "have any information on that."

For a firmer rebuttal, here's an AP report from January 2005:

ntelligence and congressional officials say they have not seen any information—never "a piece," said one—indicating that WMD or significant amounts of components and equipment were transferred from Iraq to neighboring Syria, Jordan or elsewhere...The [Bush] administration acknowledged...that the search for banned weapons is largely over. The Iraq Survey Group’s chief, Charles Duelfer, is expected to submit the final installments of his report in February. A small number of the organization’s experts will remain on the job in case new intelligence on Iraqi WMD is unearthed.

But the officials familiar with the search say U.S. authorities have found no evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein transferred WMD or related equipment out of Iraq.

A special adviser to the CIA director, Duelfer declined an interview request through an agency spokesman. In his last public statements, he told a Senate panel last October that it remained unclear whether banned weapons could have been moved from Iraq.

"What I can tell you is that I believe we know a lot of materials left Iraq and went to Syria. There was certainly a lot of traffic across the border points," he said. "But whether in fact in any of these trucks there was WMD-related materials, I cannot say."

Last week, a congressional official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said suggestions that weapons or components were sent from Iraq were based on speculation stemming from uncorroborated information.

After the subsequent report was released, Duelfer gave an interview to PBS NewsHour in which he expressed doubt that Iraq transferred WMDs to Syria prior to the US-led invasion. "Syria, we had some intelligence that perhaps some materials, suspicious materials, had been moved there," he said. "We looked as closely as we could at that, there were a few leads which we were not able to fully run down, largely because of the security situation, but it's my judgment that had substantial stocks, important stocks been moved to Syria, someone would have told something to us about that."

And in the years since, no new evidence has come to light suggesting otherwise. This all seems to conflict with Rep. Terry's "gut."

This was an assumption. Honestly, no one knows if Iraq gave them the weapons, or didn't. Besides, I'm not even going there because Iraq is water under the bridge. I just would like to know how Syria got the weapons.

On another note, this is the rare occasion that I believe that we should not intervene in Syria YET. Keyword YET. I don't trust both sides when it comes to this civil war. This stinks of Lebanon circa 1980's. If this was so clear cut, President Obama wouldn't need congress approval because of the War Powers Act. This is a convoluted mess IMO.

 

[thoughtone]

Re: one simple question for the great folks of the political board

This was an assumption. Honestly, no one knows if Iraq gave them the weapons, or didn't. Besides, I'm not even going there because Iraq is water under the bridge. I just would like to know how Syria got the weapons.

On another note, this is the rare occasion that I believe that we should not intervene in Syria YET. Keyword YET. I don't trust both sides when it comes to this civil war. This stinks of Lebanon circa 1980's. If this was so clear cut, President Obama wouldn't need congress approval because of the War Powers Act. This is a convoluted mess IMO.

This was an assumption.

But; if GW said so you would be all in.

Face it, Bush was a fucking liar and his political legacy can never be up for revisionism by the republican history twisters.

 

[thoughtone]

If this was so clear cut, President Obama wouldn't need congress approval because of the War Powers Act. This is a convoluted mess IMO.

Please clarify.

 

[actinanass]

Please clarify.

correction War Powers Resolution...

go look it up

 

[QueEx]

Who, where, and how did Syria attain chemical weapons?

Tell us since the only time you chime in on this board is to justify some wing nut talking point.

I'm asking because I do not know.

You try to insult me because you do not want to know.

typical response.

​

You were on it T.O.

Now just ask yourself, who is the Wing Nut in Chief for actinanass’ talking points ???

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​

 

[thoughtone]

correction War Powers Resolution...

go look it up

I know the war Powers Act well. I remember when it was enacted. I think it is unconstitutional. I have a thread on it on the main board. What context do you apply it to this?

 

[thoughtone]

​

You were on it T.O.

Now just ask yourself, who is the Wing Nut in Chief for actinanass’ talking points ???

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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy​

​

The wing nut revisionists! They are still trying to justify slavery as, "you are better off here than in Africa"


You can read em' a mile away!

 

[thoughtone]

Here ya go triple A.


source: Daily Mail


Britain sent poison gas chemicals to Assad: Proof that the UK delivered Sarin agent to Syrian regime for SIX years

• British companies delivered sodium flouride to Syrian firm from 2004-2010
  
• The chemical is a key component in manufacture of nerve gas
  
• Sale has been blasted as 'grossly irresponsible' in light of chemical attacks
  
• Intelligence expert says substance will have been diverted to regime

(full article)

 

[good_ole_boy]

[*]Sale has been blasted as 'grossly irresponsible' in light of chemical attacks

Understatement?