Chemical Weapons Attacks in Syria May Never Be Confirmed

In this March 23, 2013 photo, animal carcasses lie on the ground, killed by what residents said was a chemical weapon attack on March 19, 2013 in the Khan al-Assal area near the northern city of Aleppo, Syria. GEORGE OURFALIAN / REUTERS

Why Reports of Chemical Weapons Attacks in Syria May Never Be Confirmed -- Aryn Baker, Time

One witness said he smelled chlorine. Another remembered the scent of rotting garbage. There were photos of dead farm animals in a yard, and video footage of survivors struggling to breathe. But of the 31 casualties of what the Syrian government has labeled the opposition’s first chemical weapons attack, on March 19, there is no list of names of the deceased and no footage of coffins that can be directly attributed to the incident. Immediately following the alleged attack, the Syrian government demanded an international investigation, and the U.N. Security Council obliged, scrambling a team with the assistance of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Nearly a month after the attack, that team is twiddling its thumbs in Cyprus, waiting for a green light to enter Syria even as the evidence, whatever is left of it, evaporates into thin air.

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My Comment: As long as Syria's civil war continues .... unbiased and independent confirmation of suspected chemical attacks will not happen. It is too dangerous .... and everyone in Syria has now been radicalized by the conflict to a point that I doubt anyone is capable of givingan unbiased opinion. It will only be after the conflict has ended .... and long after the Assad regime has fallen .... that any hope of an independent investigation can then be conducted.