The New York Times reports: The international chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday that Syria had met an important deadline for the “functional destruction” of all the chemical weapons production and mixing facilities it declared to inspectors, rendering them inoperable, under a deal brokered by Russia and the United States.
While some experts depicted the announcement as a milestone, the measures left President Bashar al-Assad in control of a declared 1,290 tons of chemical weapons that are supposed to be destroyed by mid-2014, and an array of conventional weapons used in the country’s bloody civil war, in which over 100,000 people have died.
“The Assad regime continues to use artillery, air power and siege tactics against civilians, with thousands killed every month,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement. While the destruction of facilities is “an important first milestone, it brings no relief to the Syrian people.” [Continue reading…]
It’s a start. At least Assad can hold his own. Though Syria still it’s stocks, they should be able to lessen the amount in a timely manner. As far as the deaths and destruction go, the Times should clarify that both sides are the cause, not just Assad’s Syrian Forces. The one sided reporting from the Times, only satiety’s its choir, leaving unsaid the other sides involvement. I do wonder, when the Chemical weapons destroyed, will Israel enter? Or will the Russians have set up their anti-aircraft missile shield?
Yes, the destruction caused by the opposition air force has been appalling — all the more so because it has mastered the art of flying invisible aircraft and dropping invisible bombs that can wreak havoc on the imagination.