White House Accuses Russia of Cover-Up in Syria Chemical Attack

The New York Times ^ | APRIL 11, 2017 | Julie Hirschfeld Davis

[VitacoreVision]

WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday accused the Russian government of engaging in a cover-up of the chemical weapons attack last week by Syrian forces that prompted American airstrikes, saying that United States intelligence and numerous contemporaneous reports confirmed that the Syrians used sarin gas on their own people.

In a declassified four-page report that details United States intelligence on the chemical weapons attack, the White House asserted that the Syrian and Russian governments have sought to confuse the world community about the assault through disinformation and “false narratives.”

Senior White House officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the government’s view, said Russia’s goal was to cover up Syrian regime culpability.

The officials said they could not comment on the possibility that the Russian government knew in advance of Syria’s plan to carry out the chemical weapons attack, or of a subsequent attack on a hospital that was treating victims.

But one official said that, given the history of close cooperation between the Syrian and Russian militaries, Moscow must answer for the attacks. Pentagon officials have said that Russian personnel were at the Syrian base used to launch the chemical weapons attack.

[Rashputin]

"The Russians had assured the US and everybody that all chemical weapons had been removed from Syria and destroyed . . ."

No, that's not true. Everything was stated as verifying and removing all the weapons in areas under government control at the time.

1) The government has retaken a lot of territory.
2) Either an idiot Syrian Army officer could have found and used weapons or
3) (most likely) the rebels are looking at a use em or lose em situation and literally have nothing to lose except the chemicals and/or chemical weapons themselves.

They haven't been attacked with 59 Tomahawks or even hit hard by the US and NATO the other fifty plus times they've used them and if they were lucky, the US would do just what we've done.

[Ray76]

By the time the OPCW-UN Joint Mission in Syria (hereinafter “the Joint Mission”) completed its operations on 30 September 2014, the OPCW had been able to verify the destruction of 98% of chemical weapons declared by the Syrian Arab Republic, including all Category 1 chemicals.

https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/EC/79/en/c20crp01_ec7905_e_.pdf#page=5

[Sam Gamgee]

To some extent that does reassure me on one of the questions I had. The administration seems to have confirmation, outside of the media, that children were victims of the attack. The numbers seem to still be speculated in the media.

[Sam Gamgee]

Indeed, there was what, only 24 hours separating the attack from the response? When did Russia even have time to engage in a cover up?