Human Rights Watch reports: New evidence supports the conclusion that Syrian government forces have used nerve agents on at least four occasions in recent months: on April 4, 2017, in a chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun that killed at least 92 people, and on three other occasions in December 2016 and March 2017, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
These attacks are part of a broader pattern of Syrian government forces’ use of chemical weapons. The attacks are widespread and systematic and in some cases have been directed against the civilian population. These two features mean the attacks could meet the legal standard required to characterize them as crimes against humanity. As part of the evidence showing these attacks have become widespread and systematic, the 48-page report, “Death by Chemicals: The Syrian Government’s Widespread and Systematic Use of Chemical Weapons,” identifies three different systems being used to deliver chemical weapons: [Continue reading…]
Something isn’t adding up… https://timhayward.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/chemical-attacks-in-syria-is-assad-responsible/
When you’re in a hole and you see the likes of Theodore Postol and Noam Chomsky digging deeper, just because you like the company you’re in doesn’t nullify the fact that you’re in a hole.
On the issue of responsibility for the latest chemical attacks, if you’re looking for a big clue that something’s not adding up, start with the fact that at the outset, Assad and the Russians come out with mutually exclusive narratives.
I’m all in favor of skepticism but have no patience for fake skepticism. The latter brand of “doubt” is merely the unwillingness to accept facts that clash with your own cherished ideological presuppositions. It places greater value on dogma than intellectual rigor.