Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Syrian activists claim hundreds killed in poisonous gas attack

"Hague concerned at 'shocking escalation' in reported use of chemical weapons after alleged attacks in Damascus suburbs."
Syrian opposition groups have claimed that 213 people were killed in chemical weapons attacks by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on the outskirts Damascus on Wednesday morning. 
If confirmed, the attack could force Barack Obama to stand by his insistence that the use of such weapons crossed a "red line". Syrian state TV said there was "no truth whatsoever" in the allegations.
Its Déjà vu all over again. This is not the first time weapons of mass destruction* is alleged to be in use in Syria. I went to find out what Althouse said at the time...
"What a mistake to set the red line at something the rebels could do!"
To which Matthew Sablan commented... 
If the rebels -did- actually use the gas against Syria and Syria did not (this is a hypothetical, mind you), does that mean we'd need to move in defense of the Syrian government, or does the warning only apply to them?


Looking for an Obama response to the stepping over of his "red line", at that time, I found this.
 
"President Obama reportedly regrets having set a red line for Assad, now that Assad has crossed it. At his May 16 press conference, after it was clear the red line had been crossed, Obama was asked whether the U.S. would now take “more initiative” to effectuate his policy that “Assad must go.” Obama made it clear Assad need not worry about any U.S. action:"
With respect to what I’ve said in the past around red lines — what I’ve said is that the use of chemical weapons are something that the civilized world has recognized should be out of bounds. And as we gather more evidence and work together, my intention is to make sure that we’re presenting everything that we know to the international community … for the international community to put all the pressure that they can on the Assad regime, and to work with the opposition to bring about that political transition. … But it’s not going to be something that the United States does by itself.
Back to the present massacre** at hand.
Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, expressed concern following the reports, adding that, if confirmed, they would mark a "shocking escalation" in the use of such weapons.*
Judging by Obamas response the first time, I say if your line of work entails "gathering evidence" and "making presentations", you are in good shape, at least as far as job security is concerned.
Syrian opposition sources said rockets with toxic agents hit the Ghouta area, east of the capital, where there is a rebel presence. The opposition Sham news network reported that the nerve agent sarin had been used.
The local rebel co-ordinating committees told al-Arabiya TV that 635 people had been killed.
The Guardian.
 
*The Guardian story does not refer to chemical weapons as weapons of mass destruction. I'm going by the Bush era style of text. 

**The Guardian story does not refer to the killing as a massacre. Again, I'm going by the Bush era style of text. I could be wrong about this, but until somebody tells me to stop, it shall be the policy of this nation to regard ... wait.

30 comments:

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"What a mistake to set the red line at something the rebels could do!"

The exclamation point is her way of telling us she's being disingenuous.

deborah said...

O shure, Assad is winning, so naturally he'd use gas. Any predictions on what Vlad will say?

KCFleming said...

Seems about time for a US racism story for cover.

The Butler will help.
White bad, black good.
(Pay no attention to Australian baseball player drive-bys.)

Red line?
Naah. We'll get the blue pill.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I've always thought that "draw a line in the sand" was a terrible idiom.

It's as if we don't know any better than to build our house on shifting gears.

chickelit said...

Sarin is easy allege and harder to prove link.

The Dude said...

It's a good start.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Wasn't Obama an activist at one point? Community organizer/activist.

Couldn't he just talk to them and tell them to "behave".

They are crossing the line.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It's a good start.

People have died by the hundreds and you say "It's a good start."?

What are you?

A law professor ;)

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Dude said...

Lem, I am realist who recognizes that when your enemies are busy slaughtering each other you should allow them to continue. It's sad that both sides cannot lose.

As for that gratuitous "law professor" insult, I shall ignore that for now.

But watch yourself, Lemster, I might have to send some strongly worded pixels your way if you don't look out.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It's as if we don't know any better than to build our house on shifting gears.

That took me back to the days of the tanks in the desert sand.

Interesting dichotomy.

edutcher said...

Once more, the WMDs that didn't exist find their mark.

KCFleming said...

No fair, edutcher.

Remember, Bush bad.
There were no WMDs.
We've always been at war with Eastasia.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I might have to send some strongly worded pixels your way if you don't look out.

I should get a warning first.

Its only fair that you should abide by the international laws of blogdom, as enforced by the UN.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I've been to Canada, I know my rights.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

(1) There's an episode of The Big Bang Theory where Raj gets an iPhone and he can talk to Siri (even though she's a woman) and they develop a romantic relationship.

He finally meets her in person and she's an amazingly gorgeous woman and he becomes instantly tongue-tied and the whole thing turns to shit.

It turns out that meeting Siri in person was just a dream and Raj wakes up from the nightmare screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

(2) Siri does not appear to be Syrian, I should hasten to add.

(3) If she were in fact Syrian, she probably wouldn't be all that good-looking after having suffered a horrible, agonizing death from a poison gas attack, it's safe to say.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

(the opposite? by way of explaining that joke)

Not sure if I'm in sink.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

I get the feeling they have no idea what to do in Syria.

deborah said...

SG
"Lem, I am realist who recognizes that when your enemies are busy slaughtering each other you should allow them to continue."

Sun Tzu or Sixty Poo :)

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

It was wrong of me not to supplement my digression with some explanatory whacking material.

That wrong has now been made right and you're welcome.

edutcher said...

Lem said...

Wasn't Obama an activist at one point? Community organizer/activist.

Couldn't he just talk to them and tell them to "behave".


Community organizers start trouble, they never stop it.

In the old days, when people were honest, they'd call guys like Choom rabble rousers.

I've been to Canada, I know my rights.

You have rights in Canada?

Mark Steyn will be glad to hear it.

chickelit said...

Not sure if I'm in sink.

synching fast...

ricpic said...

Since the Syrian "rebels" are insane fanatic Shiite Islamists of the worst stripe they deserve and will receive the protection of our best and brightest.

The only sane position is a pox on both houses of this Sunni v. Shiite strife. But that would deny our best and brightest their one true calling -- meddle everywhere.

Methadras said...

The whole thing is a farce. If Urkel was smart, he would make a statement denouncing the violence, but would also state that he would not intervene other than to protect American interests if the fighting bleeds into the borders of those interests. Done. Nope, he's gotta do the red line shit and then do nothing when it happens. Fucking moron.

ndspinelli said...

There are over a million Syrian refugees. This is a breeding ground for the worst radicalization of young men. This administration does not bear all of the blame for the shit going on in the Middle East, but for much of it the administration is culpable. Obama's not embracing the Green Revolution in Iran 3 years ago, something virtually all western democracies did embrace, showed just how out of his league this college professor really is. He shows it more and more every day.

chickelit said...

The notion that Syrian rebels actually did the gassing -- if gassing is proven -- rather than Assad is intriguing.

William said...

I've read that there's already 100,000 deaths. Why should poison gas be a redder line than 100,000 deaths and a million refugees? We should put this in proportion. There is no evidence at the present time that the Assad regime is water boarding its prisoners. Until Assad crosses this red line, I recommend staying out of this mess.

Trooper York said...

General Phil Sheridan said it best.

Cody Jarrett said...

Either kill everyone or stay the hell out of it.

chickelit said...

I thought was well established that BHO doesn't support his brothers, letting them stay in a hut.