Why Am I Doubting That Assad Used Sarin?

There is a Turkish report circulating today that three victims were chemically poisoned by sarin gas. Link

The report falls short of chemical identification, instead hedging with evidence of symptoms which look like sarin poisoning. Yet sarin and sarin metabolites have distinct chemical fingerprints and isotopic signatures. The preferred method of detection is called GC/MS and it can detect very low quantities of the substance with absolute certainty. Of course, samples could be spiked with sarin, but even that would require sophistication.

I don't trust the Turks. Their President recently threatened friendly European governments with floods of refugees. Europeans fought the Ottoman Turks for centuries. We entered a war against Turkey's ally 100 years ago today. The Turks are no friend of democracy and are constantly harassing the Greeks.

Exactly who used or triggered chemical weapons last Tuesday is important. I am not impressed that our President has already made up his mind on both the types of weapons used and who used them. Trump has been proved right in the past. Perhaps he will be vindicated again. We shall see. There are many ways forward on how to gather more facts about this important matter. We should discuss them.

"How did ISIS get WMD if Saddam had none and Assad destroyed his?"

"German intelligence confirms Isis used mustard gas in Iraq"

German daily Bild reported on Monday that BND intelligence agents collected blood samples from Kurds who were injured in clashes with Isis. It quoted the BND chief, Gerhard Schindler, as saying that the agency has “information that IS used mustard gas in northern Iraq”.

US defense department spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith said: “While we will not comment on intelligence or operational matters, let us be clear: any use by any party ... of a chemical as a weapon of any kind is an abhorrent act. “Given the alleged behavior of Isil and other such groups in the region, any such flagrant disregard for international standards and norms is reprehensible.”

Must be that global warming again, causing the condiment to go bad.

Casting Dispersions

Overread in a previous post:

"It appeared to cast dispersions on a young man that was gunned down in the street. It made emotions raw."

Of course the Governor meant "cast aspersions" and not "cast dispersions."  The words are related at their core as a simple analysis reveals:

aspersion (n.) 

mid-15c., from Latin aspersionem (nominative aspersio) "a sprinkling," noun of action from past participle stem of aspergere "to sprinkle on," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + spargere "sprinkle, strew" (see sparse). Originally in theology, the shedding of Christ's blood. Modern sense of "a bespattering with slander" first attested 1590s. To cast aspersions was in Fielding (1749).

Compare:

dispersion (n.) 

late 14c., from Old French dispersion (13c.), from Latin dispersionem (nominative dispersio) "a scattering," noun of action from past participle stem of dispergere (see disperse).

Both crowd aspersion and crowd dispersion are happening in Ferguson. The latter got me interested in tear gas, it being chemical and all. From the Wiki:

Tear gas, formally known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (from lacrima meaning "tear" in Latin), is a non-lethal chemical weapon that stimulates the corneal nerves in the eyes to cause tears, pain, and even blindness. Common lachrymators include pepper spray (OC gas), CS gas, CR gas, CN gas (phenacyl chloride), nonivamide, bromoacetone, xylyl bromide, syn-propanethial-S-oxide (from onions), and Mace (a branded mixture).

Tear gas usage is long and storied -- most famously perhaps during the First World War (cf. xylyl bromide, by the Germans, a century ago). I note how many (but not all) contain a halogen -- but no halos are being generated around the heads of the police.  Some lacrymators are wholly synthetic in origin. I expect the human rights and lefties to begin a movement to extend the Geneva Convention to the trenches of American Civil Rights movements, banning tear gas except for the "Mr. Natural" ones -- especially the one derived from The Onion. Or least we'll see some trenchant warfare against their use.

Wait for it.

FSA to protect CW dismantlers

"The OPCW team had to drive from Beirut into Syria because of clashes on the airport road in Damascus

A team of international disarmament experts has arrived in Syria to begin work on dismantling the country's stockpile of chemical weapons.

...Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said that seven out of the 19 chemical weapons sites declared by the government last month are in combat zones.

...A spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Monzer Akbik, told the BBC that the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) would ensure that inspectors "will be protected, and granted access to all locations".

However, the FSA is only one of several rebel factions operating in Syria, and its local commanders have often displayed a high degree of autonomy."

BBC

I feel cautiously optimistic. Is this a step toward world peace? I wonder how much leeway will be given for the inevitable uncontrolled-rebel strike? 

That was fast

"The United States, Russia, France, China and Britain have agreed on the core of a U.N Security Council resolution to rid Syria of its chemical weapons, two diplomats said on Wednesday."

The agreement came after the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the council met U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier in the day, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity."

They said a draft resolution could be presented to the full 15-nation council soon and the five permanent members would also meet on Friday to discuss a proposed Syria peace conference in Geneva."

Reuters

Syria National Coalition rejects Chemical Weapons Convention

Gen. Salim Idriss, Syrian National Coalition

Late Wednesday night, Gen. Salim Idriss of the anti-Assad Syrian National Coalition delivered a speech (linked below the picture) stating that the SNC rejects the turnover of control of poisonous gas. Flanked by his fellow rebel commanders he announced their:

definitive rejection of the Russian initiative to place chemical weapons under international custody. 

We ask that the international community not be content with withdrawing chemical weapons, which are a criminal instrument, but to hold the perpetrator accountable and prosecute him at the International Criminal Court. 

Removing the criminal tools is one matter and holding the criminal accountable is another.

Idriss also repeated his call for the US and other "friendly" nations to send arms to the Syrian rebels. On Thursday, the day of the meeting between John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:

Syria [said] it became a full member of the convention banning the use of chemical weapons [Chemical Weapons Convention] as of Thursday but...U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said "Syria will become a member 30 days after its instrument of accession is deposited." He said the documentation is still being studied.

Realpolitik

SecState Kerry is in Geneva today to discuss the Russian suggestion that Syria voluntarily give up her stores of poison gas, rather than be plied with incendiary devices by the US. Assad asserts that his compliance is because of Russia, and not US threats:

"Syria is placing its chemical weapons under international control because of Russia. The U.S. threats did not influence the decision," Interfax quoted him as telling Russia's state-run Rossiya-24 television channel. 

A version of the Russian plan that leaked to the newspaper Kommersant described four stages:Syria would join the world body that enforces a chemical weapons ban, declare production and storage sites, invite inspectors, and then decide with the inspectors how and by whom stockpiles would be destroyed.

Reuters

"A War the Pentagon Doesn't Want"

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4464115

The tapes tell the tale. Go back and look at images of our nation’s most senior soldier, Gen. Martin Dempsey, and his body language during Tuesday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Syria. It’s pretty obvious that Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, doesn’t want this war. As Secretary of State John Kerry’s thundering voice and arm-waving redounded in rage against Bashar al-Assad’s atrocities, Dempsey was largely (and respectfully) silent.

Dempsey’s unspoken words reflect the opinions of most serving military leaders. By no means do I profess to speak on behalf of all of our men and women in uniform. But I can justifiably share the sentiments of those inside the Pentagon and elsewhere who write the plans and develop strategies for fighting our wars.

WaPo

In the 56-second clip below the image, you will see SecState Kerry ask General Dempsey, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, if he would like to add anything to what he just said. Dempsey politely declines, which causes the senator sitting to Rand Paul's left to burst out laughing. 

From the clip, you can navigate to the entire hearing. From the hearing, you can select 'Timeline,' and then select for Dempsey in the drop down menu, and his responses will be highlighted in the mini-transcripts. You must click on the texts to make the video play. He uses very guarded language that denote, in my opinion, a reluctance to grant his imprimatur to the intervention.

Such Things Just Don't Belong In Our Arsenal

First of all, the word arsenic is odd. Just seeing arsen juxtaposed with "Greek" makes me clench.

The form of the Greek word is folk etymology, literally "masculine," from arsen "male, strong, virile" (cf. arseno-koites "lying with men" in New Testament) supposedly in reference to the powerful properties of the substance. link

Arsenic is called the "King of Poisons" and the "Poison of Kings" due to its long history. Lesser known is arsenic's more recent role in our own poison gas warfare program. I mentioned Lewisite here, but a more formal introduction is in order. Even a non chemist can recognize arsenic's central role in Lewisite's structure. Here it is:

Lewisite

We made a lot of Lewisite shortly after WW I but we never deployed it as far as I know. Ridding our stockpiles has taken forever and an old cache was recently (2010) found in Washington, D.C. Link

Arsenic just can't doff its nasty reputation, even cloaked in disguise.

Que Serine, Serine

Sarin gas arouses fear and outrage because it works so silently and efficiently. I don't mean to flatter it by using the word "efficient" but it's really much more deadly and lethal than anything fielded in WW I. And remember it was discovered by accident. I doubt anyone could have designed something that efficient back then: nearly all of our understanding of how sarin kills came after its discovery, including the basic notions of how enzymes work. If someone survives a sarin exposure, there's the secondary problem of getting rid of it in cells. It's the tenacity of a simple phosphate bond — the same type of linkage found elsewhere including DNA and RNA — that keeps it from getting flushed out.

Wiki Link

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?