Direct link between Assad and gas attack elusive for U.S.

[morningfog]

(Reuters) - With the United States threatening to attack Syria, U.S. and allied intelligence services are still trying to work out who ordered the poison gas attack on rebel-held neighborhoods near Damascus.

No direct link to President Bashar al-Assad or his inner circle has been publicly demonstrated, and some U.S. sources say intelligence experts are not sure whether the Syrian leader knew of the attack before it was launched or was only informed about it afterward.

While U.S. officials say Assad is responsible for the chemical weapons strike even if he did not directly order it, they have not been able to fully describe a chain of command for the August 21 attack in the Ghouta area east of the Syrian capital.

It is one of the biggest gaps in U.S. understanding of the incident, even as Congress debates whether to launch limited strikes on Assad's forces in retaliation.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/07/us-syria-crisis-attack-idUSBRE98603A20130907?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637

[Tx4obama]

1. You can probably bet the farm that the guy on the link below knows

Syrian Defense Minister DID Defect to Turkey
Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023614083

[morningfog]

3. I hope he doesn't start going by Curveball.

[David__77]

6. That man was out of office since August 2011.

He was fired from his position way back then. More than likely he'd been under house arrest since then, and managed to escape:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ar&u=http://aawsat.com/details.asp%3Fsection%3D4%26article%3D634928%26issueno%3D11942&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%25D8%25B9%25D9%2584%25D9%258A%2B%25D8%25AD%25D8%25A8%25D9%258A%25D8%25A8%2B%25D9%2585%25D8%25AD%25D9%2585%25D9%2588%25D8%25AF%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1147%26bih%3D531

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. Sounds like someone is being duped

[fujiyama]

4. The case for this attack is crumbling

I think it's weaker today than it was a week ago.

[morningfog]

5. The country, collectively, learned from Iraq.

[fujiyama]

7. I'm starting to think it might have

The whole "post 9/11 era" may be officially over. Talking points about WMD and scary dictators just aren't very effective anymore.

[Scootaloo]

18. We'll know by Wednesday, I suppose

if the president tries to link 9/11 and Assad between now and then... I think I'm gonna give up.

[dkf]

8. Bingo. This is key. If we screw this one up its Iraq redux.

[leveymg]

13. We're seeing the Iraq Redux agenda playing out before our eyes, and maybe failing. Both parties

are thoroughly compromised and dominated at the leadership echelons by Neocons and neo-Interventionists.

It's time to start a massive restructuring of the American political process, if we all survive this.

[NYC_SKP]

9. When I first heard that it was an accidental release caused by the rebels...

...it seemed very plausible.

Did you see this OP?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014588010

[leveymg]

14. Thanks for that. It's hard for the saner voices to be heard, even around here.

That's a pretty impressive group of sanity.

[sabrina 1]

10. Unbelievable that they are willing to do something like start a dangerous bombing campaign

while unable to determine who the perpetrators are. It makes a mockery of their claim to care about the people. IF they did they would WANT to be CERTAIN they had the facts so that the RIGHT people are the ones they hope to teach a lesson to.

No wonder no one wants to go along with this. Maybe some of them actually do have a conscience.

[avaistheone1]

16. It's difficult to know what to believe.

I was reading tonight about our own history of false flags and it is quite alarming.

One thing is for sure - it is easy to dupe people.

So the takeaway message is let's not be fooled again and get all the facts before we start throwing bombs at anyone.

[IsItJustMe]

11. Yep, the Canadians did it.

Please, give me a break.

[morningfog]

12. The quesiton is how much confidence do you need to start a war?

High confidence is not enough. Proof, certainty, would be preferred. This is a decision to kill or not. Innocent people will die when drop bombs. High confidence is just not good enough.

[leveymg]

15. There's a reason why capital crimes are dealt with differently than traffic tickets. Same goes for

wars.

[IsItJustMe]

17. You are correct.

Matter of fact, after doing some research on VIPS, I am now seriously wondering if this is a set up. I read their initial assessment and seen that there was no proof what-so-ever presented and was just hear say.

But then I read their letter to GWB about the intelligence going into the Iraq war and chills ran up my spine on seeing just how accurate they were.

[DeSwiss]

19. Encouraging.....

...that people are finally realizing that we've been lied to all along.

- Every step of the way, in fact.....

K&R