Everything you need to know about Syria’s chemical weapons

Washington Post  "The Obama administration’s case for striking Syria hinges on the question of chemical weapons. The Syrian government allegedly used nerve gas on civilians, and that violates long-standing norms. So, the White House argues, the regime needs to be punished.

That’s the short version. But let’s step back and unpack this for a moment. Why, exactly, are chemical weapons so horrible? Where did Syria get its weapons? And what is Bashar al-Assad’s regime suspected of doing? Here’s a primer:.....

"Just how solid is the intelligence that the Syrian government actually used chemical weapons?
"Most of the details are still classified, so it’s hard for the public to know. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out the broad brushstrokes on Tuesday:"....

"Is there reason to doubt the Syrian government used chemical weapons?
"One note of skepticism has come from William R. Polk, who served on the State Department’s Policy Planning staff during the Kennedy years. ”Assad had much to lose and his enemies had much to gain [from the use of chemical weapons],” wrote Polk. “That conclusion does not prove who did it, but it should give us pause to find conclusive evidence which we do not now have.”

Historical footage of carrier ops in the Pacific during WWII.

 www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=9dR3h2HdnBQ

 

Hat tip to Val Brose; Santa Maria, CA

The pilots trained with the help of films like this: 

Aircraft Carrier Landings - 1946 - Navy Training Cartoon

Safety training film evidently aimed at young naval aviators. Among other things, this film stresses the proper approach angle for pilots to catch the wire with their ...

Internet search challenge for you:

Open the Google search page and type in "Obama blames" to see what comes up.
Then go to Bing and type those same words.
Hat tip to Jaker  at Yahoo Answers

http://restore-dc-catholicism.blogspot.com/ 

In case you had been wondering after the Boston bombing manhunt: Keeping Your Family Safe During a Terrorist Attack

Noisy Room   "A series of studies conducted by researchers at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness show that while 72% of Americans anticipate future terror attacks, fewer than 50% of us have a family emergency plan in place. It is not likely that any of us will forget the images of the families who were affected during the Boston bombing, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, or the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting."
....
The Seven Signs of Terrorism
"Fearing future terrorist attacks does not mean that people have to live in fear every day. There are several steps people may take to help prepare and protect their families. One such action is to become familiar with the Seven Signs of Terrorism, developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York, that have been adopted by State Police across the country as an educational tool."

Image via HomelandSecurity.ms.gov

Videos Implicate Syrian Opposition In Chemical Attacks, BUT...(UPDATE)

Remember, what matters most is that we do not lose Jordan to the Islamists. Jordan is friendly to Israel; to lose them to radical Islam will be to hem Israel in completely by nations sworn to destroy them.

Sad to say, those nations will be aided and abetted by leftists in the US such as Code Pink and (name "liberal", "progressive" "anti-war" faction here)..

(Screenshot of Saudi chemical bags labeled in Arabic and English)

 

JAWA  "Walid Shoebat writes:

Recent news of a chemical weapons attack in Syria smacks of desperation. The question comes down to who is most desperate right now, the Assad regime or the Muslim Brotherhood rebels? Consider that since June, Assad's forces have been winning.

According to a CBS News report from last month, victories for the rebels had become "increasingly rare" and that the Muslim Brotherhood-backed opposition fighters were sustaining "some of their heaviest losses" near Damascus.

The New York Times echoed this sentiment, even saying that before gaining the upper hand, concerns were that Assad would use chemical weapons; he did not 

.
In fact, even before Assad's forces gained the momentum, a UN official reportedly found evidence of rebels using chemical weapons but no evidence Assad's regime did.

 

More.

UN has testimony showing Syrian rebels used sarin gas  

"UN human rights investigators say they have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria's civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve ..."

But consider this update:

Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say

"Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they're certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime -- and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days."

Everything you need to know about Syria’s chemical weapons  "Why, exactly, are chemical weapons so horrible? Where did Syria get its weapons? And what is Bashar al-Assad’s regime suspected of doing? Here’s a primer:"

Do this Google search: Type  "evidence of syrian army use of gas"

Then with Bing: "evidence of syrian army use of gas"

NYT on Syrian Rebels: What an incredible smell you've discovered!

JAWA  It is a case of a plague on both their houses. The only thing that is essential is the security of Jordan and whatever it takes to get the Syrian refugees back into Syria. The longer this goes on, the more remote that becomes.

Rebels in Syria eagerly await the beheading of a Priest in June of this year

 

"File under: information the American public would like to have known before President Obama decided to go to war with Syria:

The moment the poem ended, the commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet.
This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.

Iran: Managing U.S. Military Action in Syria

STRATFOR

 

Summary

"Conventional wisdom says that a weakened Syria would undermine Iran's regional influence, but a U.S. military intervention in the country could actually benefit Tehran. The government there has devised a sophisticated strategy for responding to a U.S. attack. Of course, Tehran would activate its militant proxies in the region, including Hezbollah, in the event that the United States launches an attack, but it would also exploit Washington's visceral opposition to Sunni jihadist and Islamist groups to gain concessions elsewhere."

Analysis ....

...An unfriendly Syria could cut Tehran off from Hezbollah, its pre-eminent non-state Arab ally, and jeopardize the position of its Iraqi allies.

Obama struggles to convince Congress Syria isn’t about him  " The idea that Obama’s motives are political is taking hold on both the left and right, underscoring the challenge he faces in securing support for a risky military venture abroad."

....

"But some Republicans say the vote is about Obama and his foreign policy stand, whether he likes it or not.

"Asked about Obama’s remark that the “red line” wasn’t his creation, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said the president was mistaken.

" 'He needs to go back and read his quote," Chambliss said."

On Barack Obama, Democrats, and their foreign policy

USA Today; Obama's inept foreign policy    "Our friends are avoiding us, our foes aren't afraid of us, and it's looking more and more like nobody in charge knows what they're doing. It's enough to make you look back fondly on the smooth, capable diplomacy of the Jimmy Carter era. Alas, we have over three years of this left. One can only hope that we, and the world, will not pay too high a price for the ineptitude at the top."

Boston Herald;  Crown O Clown in Chief...  "Who are the two happiest people in the world this week?
"Bashar Assad and Jimmy Carter.
"One week ago, Assad was a war criminal awaiting certain retaliation from the most powerful military force the world has ever known; and Jimmy Carter still owned the title “Worst President Ever."
"Not anymore."

Doug Patton; Obama may want a Middle East mess "I have come to the conclusion that ideology trumps inexperience. His ego is so massive, and his leftist beliefs so strong, that he is willing to throw our country under the big international bus."

Jonah Goldberg; Obama bumbles as Syria burns  ...."The headline in the Times of Israel says it well, "Obama Shows Netanyahu Israel is Truly Alone."....

American Thinker; Postponing World War III  "How much of a mess has Obama made of the Middle East? The following two maps tell the story, five years ago versus today."....

 

However, in his extreme cowardice it's possible that Obama, inadvertently and unintentionally, has made the right decision for a change.

Obama passes the buck, this time to the world

Obama blames 'the world' for his foolish red line ultimatum  "The dog didn't eat his homework, but Barack Obama's latest attempt in Sweden to blame somebody else for the mess he has gotten himself into is scarcely more plausible."

WSJ: Blurred Red Lines / Harry Truman, please call Obama.   "If a President wants to lose a vote in Congress, this is what he would say. Minimize his personal leadership responsibility, and tell the Members of Congress that they are responsible for whatever happens if they fail to pass his resolution, as well as for the results of any military action that Mr. Obama would conduct."

 

Ed Henry Challenges Obama On Syrian 'Red Line' And Blocking Testimony of Benghazi survivors  Obama talks it to death. But he is right about needing to know who the party is that used gas.

Legal Insurrection 

My credibility is not on the line — the international community’s credibility is on the line…The world set a red line when governments representing 98 percent of the world’s population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent and passed a treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war.

 Pelosi has Obama's back, saying the red line was not drawn by Obama:
 

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President Obama Sends Support Message To Radical Muslim Brotherhood Front Group

JoshuaPundit 

 

"ISNA was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial. Like CAIR, they had been raising money for Hamas, some of which was used to murder American citizens. Many of their top executives were scheduled to be convicted and sent to prison in what would have been an open and shut second trial which might even have resulted in the groups being outlawed - until Eric Holder and the Obama Department of Justice filed 'decline To prosecute' motions on all of the players back in 2011."

Steyn and Coulter on the irony of this community organizer going to war

Ann Coulter

"Oh, how I long for the days when liberals wailed that “the rest of the world” hated America, rather than now, when the rest of the world laughs at us.

"With the vast majority of Americans opposing a strike against Syria, President Obama has requested that Congress vote on his powers as commander in chief under the Constitution. The president doesn’t need congressional approval to shoot a few missiles into Syria, nor — amazingly — has he said he’ll abide by such a vote, anyway.

"Why is Congress even having a vote? This is nothing but a fig leaf to cover Obama’s own idiotic “red line” ultimatum to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on chemical weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize winner needs to get Congress on the record so that whatever happens, the media can blame Republicans."....

Mark Steyn; Perfunctory and ineffectual war-making in Syria is worse than nothing.   ...." The administration’s ingenious plan is to lose this war in far less time than we usually take. In the unimprovable formulation of an unnamed official speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the White House is carefully calibrating a military action “just muscular enough not to get mocked' .”

Barry at the Bat

http://terrellaftermath.com/