WH says there's 'no evidence of any alternative' to Syrian govt. responsibility for chemical attack

[bigtree]

. . . is that the best evidence?


27 August 2013

20:40 UPDATE: White House says "no doubt" Syrian government behind attack, to release intel this week // int'l media
at Tuesday, August 27, 2013

20:35 White House @PressSec: We see no evidence of any alternative scenario. The regime already used chemical weapons in this conflict Syria // arab media

20:29 White House @PressSec: 'We have never taken military force off the the table,' Syria // arab media

20:25 White House @PressSec: It's in the clear national security interest of the US that use of chemical weapons on this scale not go unanswered // arab media

20:22 White House says the options it is considering regarding Syria are not about regime change and are not limited to the use of force // uk

20:13 White House @PressSec: Use of chemical weapons in Syria "cannot be ignored; it must be responded to." // arab media

20:09 RT @CharlieKayeCBS: BREAKING. Jay Carney: "I'm not aware of any doubt that exists" that Syrian regime responsible for last week's alleged c…


http://2008alerts.blogspot.com/2013/08/2040-update-white-house-says-no-doubt.html

[Little Star]

1. "is that the best evidence?" Good question. k&r

[leftstreet]

2. Weasel words

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. It just doesn't make sense for Assad to have used these weapons

What was to be gained for him? Killing people with conventional weapons was working fine for the Assad forces. Use of these weapons gave them no strategic or tactical advantage or appreciable territory gain.

In short, the truth of the matter is that the Assad forces had nothing to gain and everything to lose using these weapons and it makes no sense that they would have used them.

Now, if the Assad regime is angling to draw in the West to this war, that may be a possible reason, but this is an existential fight for Assad and bringing NATO in on their enemies side seems to be quite insane.

[snappyturtle]

4. Not even asking for authorization from Congress which is

conveniently on vacation....well, they won't be back until Sept. 9th.
This could be all wrapped up by then.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Makes sense

The Syrian government definitely has that kind of capability....the rebels might but it's probably unlikely they could launch a chemical attack on that scale.

[another_liberal]

6. We are about to go to war . . .

The fact is that we are about to go to war, and we don't even know who is the enemy?

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. I have a stupid question

If we anticipate that there are nerve agents stockpiled and go in and bomb them - won't that just disseminate them downwind?

How does one dispose of such nasties?