Syria Chemical Weapons Attack Not Ordered By Assad, Says German Press

THE GUARDIAN: Bild am Sonntag cites high-level German surveillance source suggesting Syrian president was not personally behind attacks

President Bashar al-Assad did not personally order last month's chemical weapons attack near Damascus that has triggered calls for US military intervention, and blocked numerous requests from his military commanders to use chemical weapons against regime opponents in recent months, a German newspaper has reported , citing unidentified, high-level national security sources.

The intelligence findings were based on phone calls intercepted by a German surveillance ship operated by the BND, the German intelligence service, and deployed off the Syrian coast, Bild am Sonntag said. The intercepted communications suggested Assad, who is accused of war crimes by the west, including foreign secretary William Hague, was not himself involved in last month's attack or in other instances when government forces have allegedly used chemical weapons.

Assad sought to exonerate himself from the August attack in which hundreds died. "There has been no evidence that I used chemical weapons against my own people," he said in an interview with CBS. » | Simon Tisdall and Josie Le Blond in Berlin | Sunday, September 08, 2013

Syria: Is It Worth Risking Human Lives for the Sake of Human Rights?

Chemical weapons have horrified mankind since their first widespread use almost a century ago. The world has come to recognize their use as a flagrant violation of international law. As the US once again beats the drums of war towards Syria, we ask how justified such an intervention is, given the conflicting evidence and the widespread opposition to it. Will a strike help stop the war, or will it drag the whole region into a more brutal and protracted conflict? To wrestle over these issues, Oksana is joined by Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch.

Catherine Ashton Calls for a Strong Response on Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria

Catherine Ashton, the UN's foreign policy chief, says there is strong evidence that Bashar al-Assad's regime perpetrated the chemical attack in Damascus on August 21st. At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday Ashton also called for a 'clear and strong response' to the use of chemical weapons in Syria

Barack Obama: 'Majority' of Leaders Say Assad Used Chemical Weapons

US President Barack Obama says a "majority" of world leaders believe that Bashar-al Assad's regime used chemical weapons.

Read the short Telegraph article here | Friday, September 06, 2013
THE GUARDIAN: Obama assembles fragile alliance blaming Assad for chemical attacks: 11 G20 countries sign statement calling for 'strong response' to chemical weapons, but Putin says most oppose military action » | Patrick Wintour in St Petersburg | Friday, September 06, 2013

Syria Chemical Attack Is 'Rebels' Provocation in Hope of Intervention' - Putin

US President Barack Obama is struggling to gather international support for strikes against Syria. The issue has divided world leaders at the G20 summit - which has just drawn to a close in St. Petersburg. RT's Rory Suchet is in our G20 studio in St. Petersburg with the latest updates on what's been happening at the summit.

Tony Blair on Syria: Not to Act Is 'Dangerous'

BBC: As arguments for and against military action in Syria continue to dominate the G20 summit in St. Petersburg and proceedings on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tony Blair has explained why he believes intervention is necessary.

Mr Blair, Middle East envoy for the quartet of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, said: "It's pretty clear frankly who is responsible for [the chemical attack], and not to act is dangerous.

"You're sending a signal that such a use of chemical weapons can take place, without the international community having a robust, and proper, response." Listen to BBC audio » | Friday, September 06, 2013

Senate Sanctions Syria Strike: 'Jihadists to Thrive in Case of Attack'

Russia has released expert findings showing that a chemical attack in Syria was apparently conducted by the rebels, and not the regime; while in US, Obama's push for a strike on Syria has passed the first hurdle - after the Senate committee voted in favor of the resolution. The US Secretary of State also pitched the case to the House of representatives. One reason for an attack that Kerry cited, was to prevent US allies in the Gulf states from increasing their support to Al-Qaeda cells within the Syrian opposition, which they might do in desperation to topple Assad. Defense analyst and author Ivan Eland says this rhetoric does not stand up to scrutiny.

Putin: Russia Doesn't Defend Assad, We Defend International Law

Russia needs convincing proof, not rumors, from UN experts that chemical weapons were used in Syria, said the Russian president in an interview with First Channel and AP. It is up to the UN Security Council to decide on the next course of action, he said

Putin: Only UNSC Can Sanction Military Action Against Syrian Government

President Vladimir Putin says Russia will wait for rock hard evidence before deciding who carried out an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria last month. He says all options remain on the table - but facts and international authorisation should come before intervention. RT's Sean Thomas reports.

'Future Historians: Why Did Obama Missile & Torpedo Syrian Peace Deal?'

The Syrian crisis and the threat of a military strike are forcing an increasing number of people to flee the war zone. The number of refugees now in neighboring countries is already exceeding two million - with the UN calling the exodus the 'humanitarian calamity' of the century.RT contributor Afshin Rattansi says the war rhetoric is further exacerbating the plight of the refugees.

The End of U.S. Imperium—Finally!

THE DAILY BEAST: Congress’s upcoming vote on Syria could bring to a close decades of incessant American meddling and bullying around the world. It’s about time, says David Stockman.

Next week Congress can do far more than stop a feckless Tomahawk barrage on a small country that is already a graveyard of civil war and sectarian slaughter. By voting “no,” it can trigger the end of the American Imperium—five decades of incessant meddling, bullying, and subversion around the globe that has added precious little to national security but left America fiscally exhausted and morally diminished.

Indeed, the tragedy of this vast string of misbegotten interventions—from the 1953 coup against Mohammad Mosaddegh in Iran through the recent bombing campaign in Libya—is that virtually none of them involved defending the homeland or any tangible, steely-eyed linkages to national security. They were all rooted in ideology—that is, anti-communism, anti-terrorism, humanitarianism, R2P-ism, nation building, American exceptionalism. These were the historic building blocks of a failed Pax Americana. Now the White House wants authorization for the last straw: namely, to deliver from the firing tubes of U.S. naval destroyers a dose of righteous “punishment” that has no plausible military or strategic purpose. By the president’s own statements, the proposed attack is merely designed to censure the Syrian regime for allegedly visiting one particularly horrific form of violence on its own citizens.

Well, really? After having rained napalm, white phosphorous, bunker busters, drone missiles, and the most violent machinery of conventional warfare ever assembled upon millions of innocent Vietnamese, Cambodians, Serbs, Somalis, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Yemeni, Libyans, and countless more, Washington now presupposes to be in the moral-sanctions business? That’s downright farcical. Nevertheless, by declaring himself the world’s spanker in chief, President Obama has unwittingly precipitated the mother of all clarifying moments.

The screaming strategic truth is that America no longer has any industrial state enemies capable of delivering military harm to its shores: Russia has become a feeble kleptocracy run by a loud-mouthed thief, and the Communist Party oligarchs in China would face a devastating economic collapse within months were they to attack their American markets for sneakers and Apples. So the real question now before Congress is, how is it possible that the peace-loving citizens of America, facing no industrial-scale military threat from anywhere on the planet, find themselves in a constant state of war? The answer is that they have been betrayed by the Beltway political class, which is in thrall to a vast warfare state apparatus that endlessly invents specious reasons for meddling, spying, intervention, and occupation. » | David Stockman | Tuesday, September 03, 2013

France: Syrian Régime behind Chemical Attack

Declassified report says government launched "coordinated assault" as Assad says Middle East is a "powder keg".

Chemical Clues: German Intel Has 'Evidence' to Back US War Push in Syria

Berlin has joined the clamour to convince the world that it was Syria's President who ordered a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus last month. German media reports suggest the country's spies have intercepted calls and communications which point directly at the Syrian leadership. RT's Peter Oliver reports on the evidence. Also, RT spoke to German journalist Manuel Ochsenreiter who finds it hard to believe that Berlin's allegations have nothing to do with America's push to justify military action in Syria.

Bashar al-Assad Interview: 'Show Me the Proof of Regime Chemical Attack'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bashar al-Assad challenged the West to provide "the slightest proof" he has used chemical weapons against his people in his first reaction to allegations that his forces killed more than 1,400 people in a gas attack on August 21.

The Syrian president issued a dire warning that any Western military intervention could lead to "regional war" and would harm "the interests of France".

"Whoever accuses must provide proof. We have challenged the United States and France to provide the slightest proof. (US President Barack) Obama and (French president François) Hollande have been incapable (of doing so) even to their own people," Assad told French newspaper Le Figaro in an exclusive interview.

He questioned the "logic" of claims that his forces carried the August 21 attack outside Damascus, which the US said killed 1,429 people.

"Supposing our army wishes to use weapons of mass destruction. Is it possible that it would do so in a zone where it is located and where (our) soldiers were wounded by these arms, as United Nations inspectors have noted during visits to hospitals where they were treated? Where is the logic?," he asked.

Describing the Middle East as a "powder keg" whose "fuse is getting shorter", he warned it would "explode" if Western forces struck Syria. "Nobody knows what will happen (after such strikes). Everyone will lose control of the situation when the powder keg explodes. Chaos and extremism will spread. The risk of a regional war exists," he warned. » | Henry Samuel, Paris and Jon Swaine in New York | Monday, September 02, 2013

LE FIGARO: La mise en garde d'Assad à la France » | Par Georges Malbrunot | lundi 02 septembre 2013

My comment:

All this talk of war, and absolutely no convincing proof of who perpetrated this crime against humanity in the first place. Cameron and Obama et al continue with their 'conviction' that it was Bashar Al-Assad. But was it? It could just as easily have been the rebels.

If Obama launches a war against Syria without convincing proof, and it turns out in years to come that it wasn't Bashar Al-Assad after all who perpetrated this crime, then Obama will be the war criminal.

It seems to me that we in the West need to step back from the brink, and assess the whole thing with a cool head.

What is to be achieved by striking Syria? What is to be achieved by toppling Bashar Al-Assad? I'll guarantee you now, if Bashar Al-Assad is toppled, Syria will become a haven of Islamic fundamentalists. It will be turned into a theocratic state à l'Iran, and the Christian community there will suffer greatly. Hasn't the West inflicted enough damage on the Christian communities of the Middle East already?

Then there is the problem of the possible escalation of conflict. The whole region will be turned into a war zone. And what guarantees do we have that this regional conflict won't spread westward, eastward, northward, and southward? World wars have been started by far less aggression.

Moreover, it seems to me that we need to listen to our senior military men. Some of them have come out firmly against military aggression already. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

US Intelligence on Syria Gas Attack 'Unconvincing', Says Russia

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Western intelligence reports about Syrian use of chemical weapons that have been seen by the Russian government are “completely unconvincing,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

Mr Lavrov said that evidence recently provided by the United States, Britain, and France showing regime culpability for chemical weapons attacks was too vague to stand up to scrutiny.

“What we were shown before and what our American, British and French colleagues sent us more recently absolutely does not convince us,” he said.

His remarks came a day after John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, insisted America had evidence that Bashar al-Assad used sarin gas in the devastating chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 people last month. Mr Kerry used an appearance on Fox News on Sunday morning to pile pressure on the US Congress ahead of a vote on military strikes announced by Barack Obama over the weekend.

Mr Kerry said that he could not contemplate the idea that Congress would grant "impunity to a ruthless dictator to continue to gas his people". He said the US had detected sarin in soil and blood samples obtained from first responders.

Meanwhile it was reported that Russia has dispatched an intelligence ship to the Eastern Mediterranean, as it further beefs up its naval presence in the region ahead of anticipated US strikes against its Syrian ally. » | Roland Oliphant, Moscow | Monday, September 02, 2013

Now Obama Puts Syria Strike On Ice

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama declared his intention to launch punitive military strikes against Syria over its use of chemical weapons. But he said he would delay the action until he had sought the support of Congress.

After a day of frenzied preparations in the United States and across the Middle East, Mr Obama announced that as America’s Commander-in-Chief he had the authority to order military action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. He said he was “prepared to give that order”.

But, he added, he judged that “the country will be stronger” if legislators were consulted first.

“After careful deliberation I have decided the United States should take military action against Syrian targets,” Mr Obama said. “I’m confident we can hold the Assad regime accountable for their use of chemical weapons.

“I’m ready to act in the face of this outrage. Today I’m asking Congress to send a message to the world, that we are ready to move forward together as a nation.”

The announcement represents a major gamble for the US President, two days after David Cameron lost a vote in the Commons when MPs refused to support British military action.

Mr Obama’s intention to seek a vote means a likely delay of up to 10 days until Congress returns, unless a decision is taken to recall it sooner.

Congressional leaders said they would consider the matter in the week of Sept 9.

Mr Obama said he was prepared to act “without the approval of a United Nations Security Council that so far has been paralysed”, but added: “This decision is too big to go ahead without debate.” » | Peter Foster in Washington, Robert Watts and Ben Farmer | Saturday, August 31, 2013

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama on Syria: text in full: President Barack Obama outlined his plan to launch military intervention in Syria on Saturday, but said he would seek approval from Congress first. Here is the full transcript of his speech. » | Saturday, August 31, 2013

Russia's Vladimir Putin Challenges US on Syria Claims

BBC: Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that Syria attacked rebels with chemical weapons near Damascus.

Mr Putin said it would be "utter nonsense" for Syria's government to provoke opponents with such attacks.

US President Barack Obama says he is considering military action against Syria after intelligence reports that 1,429 people were killed on 21 August.

UN weapons inspectors have left Syria after gathering evidence for four days.

They are taking their samples to the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, in The Hague. (+ video) » | Saturday, August 31, 2013

Putin Tells Obama: Show Us Proof Syrian Regime Was behind Chemical Attacks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Vladimir Putin has dismissed as "nonsense" claims that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons and demanded that the United States provide proof.


The Russian President told journalists that if Barack Obama had evidence Bashar al-Assad's forces had the chemical weapons and launched the attack, Washington should present it to the UN weapons inspectors and the Security Council.

Speaking after the US released its intelligence report, Mr Putin said: "I am convinced that it (the chemical attack) is nothing more than a provocation by those who want to drag other countries into the Syrian conflict, and who want to win the support of powerful members of the international arena, especially the United States."

He rejected American intercepts of Syrian communications as evidence, saying that they cannot be used to take "fundamental decisions" such as using military force on Syria.

Mr Putin said the US President, as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, should remember the impact any US attack would have on Syrian civilians.

He went on to call for calm, and asked Mr Obama to think carefully before going to war. » | Roland Oliphant, Moscow | Saturday, August 31, 2013

Kerry: 'Intel' Shows 'Thug & Murderer' Assad Carried Out Chemical Attack

United States Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that the US intelligence community has concluded that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for killing more than 1,000 people with chemical gas last week near Damascus.

'US Would Use Any UN Chemical Weapons Report to Justify Attack on Syria'

International pressure has been building for a military strike on Syria in the wake of an alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb. The West has laid the blame at the feet of President Assad, as UN inspectors probe the site of the attack. RT's contributor Afshin Rattansi thinks that whatever UN chemical weapons report would be, US would construe it in a way to justify attack on Syria.