chemical weapons

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Obama Weighing Strike on Syria

President calls alleged chemical strike 'a big event of grave concern'

(Newser) - Top Obama administration officials met yesterday to discuss potential military responses to what may have been the worst chemical weapons attack in decades. Officials were "sharply divided" and emerged from three-and-a-half hours of discussions about Syria without reaching a decision, the New York Times reports; options on the table...

In Syria, Deadliest Chemical Weapons Possibly Used

Observed symptoms in Syria in line with nerve agent, say experts

(Newser) - Experts are inferring what they can from the reports and videos leaking out of Syria in the wake of a possible chemical weapons attack, and what they're saying isn't good. The Washington Post explains that there are seven types of chemical weapons, the deadliest of which are nerve...

Syrians Describe 'Sleeping Dead' After Alleged Gas Attack

UN to hold emergency meeting this afternoon

(Newser) - The UN Security Council will meet in an emergency session at 3pm Eastern today to discuss the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian army, reports the AP . The latest developments:
  • The US says it's "deeply concerned" at the reports, UN chief Ban Ki-moon says he's
...

Rebels: Syria Dropped Chemical Weapons on Us

Opposition says hundreds dead as regime denies use of toxic gas

(Newser) - Syrian opposition groups say hundreds of people— Reuters says nearly 500—were killed today in chemical weapons attacks on rebel-held suburbs of Damascus. Videos uploaded to YouTube by activists show people, including many children, being treated in makeshift hospitals, reports the BBC , which has been unable to fully verify the...

UN Heads to Syria to Hunt Chemical Weapons

Officials to investigate weapons' use, but not who to blame

(Newser) - Following approval by Bashar al-Assad, a UN team is headed to Syria to investigate whether chemical weapons are being used in the country. "The departure of the team is now imminent," says a statement from secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon. Inspectors will remain in Syria "for a period of...

US to Provide Syria Rebels With Weapons

Decision follows conclusion regime used chemical agents

(Newser) - Now that the US has determined that Bashar al-Assad's regime used chemical weapons, the Obama administration intends to help arm Syrian rebels, officials tell the New York Times . The US will send light arms and ammunition; antitank weapons are also a possibility. Rebel leaders have called for antiaircraft weapons,...

US: Syria Used Chemical Weapons

NYT: Obama now convinced after new intelligence assessment

(Newser) - The Syrian war seems to have tipped lately in favor of Bashar al-Assad, but here's one development with at least the potential to change things: The US has concluded that Syria used chemical weapons on a small scale multiple times, reports the New York Times . President Obama has long...

Plot to Release Poison Gas via Toy Planes Foiled

Five arrested after workshops, toys uncovered in Iraq

(Newser) - Iraqi authorities say they have arrested five men who were manufacturing sarin and mustard gas, which they planned to release via remote-controlled toy planes, reports the BBC . They also planned to smuggle the chemicals into Europe and North America and strike targets there. The men confessed to the plot, and...

French Paper Reports Chemical Attacks in Syria Firsthand

'Le Monde' describes chemical attacks in gritty detail

(Newser) - When Obama last spoke about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, he said he wanted to avoid "rushing to judgement" because "we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them." Well, here's some detail: Journalists from French newspaper Le ...

Syrians Allege Chemical Attack: 'Suffocating Smell'

BBC thinks evidence begins to add up

(Newser) - Government helicopters dropped chemical weapons last month on the Syrian town of Saraqeb, eyewitness testimony strongly suggests. A BBC correspondent visited the town, and was regaled with accounts and videos of box-like devices being dropped out of helicopters and emitting deadly gas. "It was a horrible, suffocating smell,"...

UN Suspects Syrian Rebels Used Nerve Gas

'Strong suspicions' but no proof yet, top investigator says

(Newser) - Another game-changer? One of the United Nations' chief investigators says evidence is building that sarin gas was used in the Syrian conflict—but by rebels, not Bashar al-Assad's regime. "Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors, and field hospitals" and "there are strong, concrete...

McCain: Obama&#39;s &#39;Red Line&#39; Written in &#39;Disappearing Ink&#39;
McCain: Obama's 'Red Line' Written in 'Disappearing Ink'
SUNDAY TALK SHOWS
May 5, 2013 9:59 AM CDT

McCain: Obama's 'Red Line' Written in 'Disappearing Ink'

Blasts White House for giving Assad 'green light'

(Newser) - John McCain blasted President Obama's handling of Syria today, reports the National Review , slamming his "red line" on chemical weapons as having been "written in disappearing ink.” The red line, he told Fox News, was really "a green light to Bashar al-Assad to do anything...

Insiders: Obama Ready to Arm Syrian Rebels

President planning more aggressive Syria policy, officials say

(Newser) - President Obama may not have sounded very threatening during yesterday's White House press conference , but senior administration officials say he is planning a much more aggressive line on Syria, the Washington Post reports. The president is planning to supply the Syrian opposition with lethal weaponry for the first time,...

Iran: Chemical Weapons in Syria a Red Line for Us, Too...

But Tehran thinks the rebels are to blame

(Newser) - Iran agrees with the US that the use of chemical weapons in Syria is a "red line" that cannot be crossed. But while the US thinks , but can't say for sure , that the government used chemicals on rebel fighters, Iran suggests precisely the opposite, reports Reuters . Its foreign...

Obama: We Don&#39;t Have All Facts in Syria


 Obama: We Don't 
 Have All Facts 
 in Syria 
PRESS CONFERENCE
Apr 30, 2013 10:49 AM CDT

Obama: We Don't Have All Facts in Syria

President addresses Syria, Boston, Guantanamo in press conference

(Newser) - The US is pretty sure someone has used chemical weapons in Syria—but it's not sure who, President Obama revealed at a White House press conference today, at which he invited reporters to ask him questions on whatever they pleased. "What we now have is evidence that chemical...

Syria Videos Cite 'Toxic' Attack

Apparent doctor calls for medicine in clip

(Newser) - After Chuck Hagel cautiously acknowledged potential Syrian chemical attacks, a batch of new videos appears to support the claims. The YouTube videos, via an account linked to Syria rebels, show apparently injured men on IVs and oxygen masks alongside others described as doctors, the New York Times reports. The clips...

Hagel: Syria Likely Used Chemical Weapons

Defense secretary says sarin gas probably used on 'small scale'

(Newser) - Have we crossed the red line? US intelligence has concluded with "some degree of varying confidence" that Bashar al-Assad's regime has used chemical weapons, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters in Abu Dhabi today, per the AP . The determination apparently came within the past day, and the White...

NYPD Staging Fake Bio-Terror Subway Attack

Releasing harmless gas to track its movement

(Newser) - Don't worry: The gas the NYPD will be releasing into the New York City subway system in July is totally harmless. The "per fluorocarbons" will be released as part of a $3.4 million-dollar study looking at airflow in the subway system, with the aim of helping authorities...

Israel: Syria Has Been Using Chemical Weapons

Ally says use has been 'continuous,' puts pressure on US

(Newser) - An Israeli official has offered the country's firmest assertion yet that Syria is using chemical arms, calling the evidence "quite clear," the New York Times reports. "The regime has increasingly used chemical weapons," says Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, the military's leading intelligence official, adding...

Britain, France: Syria Used Chemical Weapons

They want UN to launch broad investigation

(Newser) - Syria's Bashar al-Assad has indeed defied repeated US warnings not to use chemical weapons, say France and Britain. The two nations told the UN they have evidence that Syrian troops used nerve agents more than once in Aleppo, Homs, and maybe even Damascus, reports the Washington Post . Investigators drew...

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