now, just where do you think syria got those chemical weapons?
there are only so many possibilities.--
russia and/or china. i do not think this likely, because i don't think either would trust such things to knot heads. (hint: that's why they sell the arabs outmoded tanks, and fighters.)
"homemade." i do not think this entirely likely, as they don't seem capable of making much. and, if they did make them at "home," it is quite likely the israelis would have done something about a long long time ago. as with iran, plants would suffer explosions, and scientists would blow up in car bombs, and the like. this has not happened so far as i know. (not that i am saying that israel does stuff like that, ... , but, stuff like that just seems to happen w/ people who dink around w/ israel.)
from saddam hussein, in trucks. if you will remember, just prior to the launch of the 2nd invasion into iraq by the george bush led united nations coalition, (look it up, if you are intellectually lazy and don't remember details very well, ... , e.g., you are a liberal w/ the liberals meme on the topic), the iraqi's were shipping everything that wasn't nailed down to a concrete foundation into syria by truck.
a constant, heavy stream of trucks, just about ceaseless.
of stuff.
from one baathist regime, to another baathist regime, from one dictator to another.
this seems to me the most likely source of the gas weaponry that assad is trotting out to threaten the world, though it is to be doubted that he has the tactical capability to deploy it very effectively. i suspect that his troops cannot arm weapons with it, nor, in all probability, can they make it go "boom" properly.
the stuff is tricky. you remember when the japanese terrorist types tried to commit mass murder by releasing sarin into the japanese subways? well, they killed a few, made more very sick, but they really were incapable of disseminating the stuff in sufficient concentrations to make it lethal.
gas. nerve agents. chemical weapons. biological weapons. all of these things require skill and calculation in their distribution and use in order to be lethal on any kind of large scale.
we'll see. i believe the fellow that barbara walters described as a nice friendly eye doctor will use the stuff to try and stay in power. i don't believe he'll be any better at it than he's ever been at anything else, and i believe he will die at the hands of his opposition.
and, deservedly so. (if i were his american born wife, i would be clearing out of dodge with all the jewelry i could stuff into the pillow cases, ... , else she dies on the gibbet, as well, if she's lucky.)
but, all that aside.
i think assad got the gas from saddam hussein. (you remember any syrian american-trained bio-chemists named "doctor death," now, do you?)
you got a better explanation? can you point to the plants where it was manufactured, to the places where its storage was devised, and to the systems designed to charge the necessary armaments with the stuff?
john jay @ 12.06.2012
p.s. bush didn't lie. the god damned democrats lied, and, after they initially sponsored the invasion, too. oh, yeah, i dislike the bastards intensely.
Elephants always lose the game because what is truth and what is lie, are dictated by the donkeys.
If Americans see the same on late night TV that they see on their next morning's show, it is the truth - even if the truth was different the day before.
The propaganda war has been lost - the masses have been opiated. But tyrants seem only to fear the people. They know they must work now 24hrs to maintain the illusion. Much energy must be spent on that front - perhaps that is their weak point?
Posted by: sDee | December 07, 2012 at 05:03 AM
Here's a non-classified 1999 CIA report on Syrian chemical weapons. Syria was upgrading a program that had already existed for years. https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/archived-reports-1/jan_jun1999.html#syria
Posted by: Adam Robert Ryan | December 07, 2012 at 12:09 PM
adam:
this is an interesting report.
it confirms quite a few of my points, and does not diminish my arguments, however.
mostly, it talks of pre-existing stocks of sarin gas, and pre-cursor chemical being supplied.
it does not speak of manufacturing facilities, nor of any ability to put any cw's it had into armaments, or how to deploy them.
i'll stick to my opinions, at this juncture.
but, thanks very much for the read, and thanks for the comment. much appreciated.
john jay
Posted by: john jay | December 07, 2012 at 01:58 PM
sDee:
yes, indeed, uneasy sleeps the head of a tyrant.
one day you have power, the next day you are beset by the mob.
a very fine balancing act is required, as assad will learn.
his head will end up on a pike.
john
Posted by: john jay | December 07, 2012 at 02:00 PM
p.s. did you ever wonder why obama's minions so feared the little old grandma's and grandpa's who peopled the first "tea party" rallies?
janet napolitano just fractured me when she called them "domestic terrorists."
and, then, it dawned on me.
obama and minions fear the people. and, the only reason they would, is that they are afraid they will rise up and oppose obama's plans.
sort of makes you wonder what he has in store, doesn't it!!
well, he will do what he will do.
and, let him find out what the people will do.
just as assad will, and quacks daffily has already.
john
Posted by: john jay | December 07, 2012 at 02:04 PM
I did not wonder long john jay. It is liberty they fear.
http://artisword.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/delacroix-liberty-leading-the-people.jpg
Posted by: sDee | December 08, 2012 at 01:24 PM