Speaker to Animals wrote:Can we back this up to the part where we don't have any substantive confirmation that there was a chemical strike in the first place, or if there was one, who was responsible?
Assad gave up his chemical weapons a few years ago. He is winning the civil war. He has no need to launch chemical weapons at people. The rebels on the other hand actually have been manufacturing them, especially chlorine gas, and it's entirely possible that what the Syrian government claims is true: they hit a rebel ammunition dump not knowing there was a stockpile of chemical weapons there.
It's really strange to me that that the various rebel factions have been launching chemical weapons on people for years and nobody gave a shit, but now this..
"No need"? Not really. Even if he wins the war against the FSA rebels, he'll still have the Rojava Kurds to deal with afterwards. He'll need to show strength. The province where the gas attack took place, Idlib, was a rebel stronghold. Smitty already posted something like this, but to repeat it: What better way to show the rest of your people that rising up against your legitimate rule will be met with total annihilation, no mercy for anyone who fights against or support those who fight against the government?
Of course, gas is just one of many ways to do so, and for all we know it
could have been a rebel gas factory that got bombed. But the idea that Assad "of course", or "logically" would not terrorize his own people....
... I fully get why you don't want to be dragged into another ME war, but that doesn't mean that those who write stories about bad ME dictators' nasty behavior are
lying - even if their motive is to use those stories to get you dragged into another ME war.
Fame is not flattery. Respect is not agreement.
