Posted on 02/24/2012 5:37:47 PM PST by U-238
The State Department has begun coordinating with Syria's neighbors to prepare for the handling of President Bashar al-Assad's extensive weapons of mass destruction if and when his regime collapses, The Cable has learned.
This week, the State Department sent a diplomatic demarche to Syria's neighbors Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, warning them about the possibility of Syria's WMDs crossing their borders and offering U.S. government help in dealing with the problem, three Obama administration officials confirmed to The Cable. For concerned parties both inside and outside the U.S. government, the demarche signifies that the United States is increasingly developing plans to deal with the dangers of a post-Assad Syria -- while simultaneously highlighting the lack of planning for how to directly bring about Assad's downfall.
Syria is believed to have a substantial chemical weapons program, which includes mustard gas and sophisticated nerve agents, such as sarin gas, as well as biological weapons. Syria has also refused IAEA requests to make available facilities that were part of its nuclear weapons program and may still be in operation.
The State Department declined to provide access to any officials to discuss the private diplomatic communication on the record, such as the author of the demarche Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Tom Countryman. In a meeting with reporters earlier this year, Countryman expressed confidence that the United States knows where Syria's WMD stockpiles are, but warned that they could become a very serious security issue for Syria and the region going forward.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecable.foreignpolicy.com ...
Is she expecting the Assad regime to say "come and overthrow us"? I know she's the "smartest woman in the world", but I cannot make any sense of her statement. Oh well, I reckon I'll never be Secretary of State!
Nothing is going to Syria if Russia,China and Iran are involved in the conflict. Iran has been investing manpower,ammunition and money into the Syrian government. Russia is still a huge importer of arms and have a naval base in Syria.Right now, there are two Iranian frigates in Syrian ports.
Why would either side in Syria be interested in shipping out WMDs?
Gee, how did Syria get those WMDs? *GIGUNDO SARC TAG*
I think we let the WMD’s go to Assad to ensure damn little or none would be used against our men and women.
Maybe. It still leaves some explaining to do down the road for some folks who insist they never existed. It was really odd trying to pick my son out of a trio of three posing soldiers trying to look tough during an missile raid the first few days of the war before moving forward into Iraq. His unit was actually saved by patriot missiles that almost took out his unit and a good portion of the 101st while they were still in Kuwait. It still ticks me off to hear people say his misery living in MOPP gear for hours on end was a lie.
“if and when his regime collapses”
As long as the Iranian regime and the Russians are helping him, his regime isn’t collapsing.
And you are correct. I would include the Chinese and North Korea. I included the North Koreans is that they give nuclear technology to the Syrians(Operation Orchard)
They have been building them for quite a some time.Syria reportedly manufactures Sarin, Tabun, VX, and mustard gas types of chemical weapons.They are loaded on to SS-21 missiles The Syrians received their first chemical weapon from the Egyptians during the 1973 war.To date, however,Syria has declined to accede to the CWC until all weapons of mass destruction have been eliminated from the Middle East first.First, because of the conflict with Israel, the sensitive nature of these activities demands the strictest military secrecy. Second,there are nopolitical pressure groups in Syria that either oppose or support the acquisition of these weapons.Third, since the Syrian chemical and related petrochemical facilities are inter-related
It does hold the most advanced chemical weapons program in the Arab world.
The communist muslim Hussein administration is actively encouraging destabilization of the region and allying with the Arab League in order to advance an islamic caliphate.
The difference is my is packed with useful data on the Syrian program
If so there's a problem: You are President Obama. Intelligence says that there are all kinds of Iraqi WMD, sending American forces in there before destroying all of them would be death for all of the forces.. but you know, President Obama, that waiting until all the Iraqi WMDs are destroyed would acknowledge that you and your Party lied! The tons of Iraqi WMDs were moved to Syria! What do you do? Let thousands of U.S. forces get killed or admit that you and your Party are LIARS?
Tick.. Ding!
That's right! IMO President Obama would send the troops to all die rather than be caught lying. He's a citizen of the world. Remember? He'd make up a story that they were all killed because their weapons unexpectedly all exploded at once.. or an Israeli nuke launched and went off course.. or . . . .
Saddam WMDs, according to Saddam’s Hussein’s Air Force General Georges Sada went to Hizbollah and is still there somewhere in the Bekaa Valley. I guess it technically went to Syria since its a patron of Hizbollah.
The pilots told Mr. Sada that two Iraqi Airways Boeings were converted to cargo planes by removing the seats, Mr. Sada said. Then Special Republican Guard brigades loaded materials onto the planes, he said, including “yellow barrels with skull and crossbones on each barrel.” The pilots said there was also a ground convoy of trucks.The flights - 56 in total, Mr. Sada said - attracted little notice because they were thought to be civilian flights providing relief from Iraq to Syria, which had suffered a flood after a dam collapse in June of 2002.
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/iraqs-wmd-secreted-in-syria-sada-says/26514/
http://www.wnd.com/2004/01/23007/
Just about every Iraqi we came across, 2003, in northern Iraq was jumping up and down yelling the same thing......the weapons went to Syria on trucks.
Also, there were still folks with access/knowledge floating around after that. One of the Marines in my unit received an award after discovering a chem-bio IED lab during Al-Fajr.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.