http://www.smh.com.au/world/no-evidence-for-chemical-weapons-in-syria-us-20130423-2id60.html No evidence for chemical weapons in Syria: US Date April 24, 2013 - 8:23AM US officials say they have not seen conclusive evidence supporting an assertion by Israel’s top military intelligence analyst that Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons against rebels. Secretary of State John Kerry and spokesmen from the White House and the Pentagon said investigations had produced no hard proof that Bashar al-Assad’s regime has used toxic chemicals - a step that President Barack Obama has said would cross a ‘‘red line.’’ I don’t know yet what the facts are. I don’t think anybody knows what they are yet. US Secretary of State John Kerry ‘‘We have not come to the conclusion that there has been that use,’’ White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington. ‘‘It is precisely because of the seriousness of the use of chemical weapons - and the seriousness with which the president made clear that that use would be unacceptable - that it is incumbent upon us and our partners to investigate thoroughly and validate or verify allegations of chemical weapons use.’’ A senior Israeli army officer said the Assad regime was using chemical weapons, most likely sarin. "Assad is using chemical weapons in Syria," said Brigadier General Itai Brun, head of research and analysis in the army's military intelligence division, in remarks quoted on the army's official Twitter feed. But US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been unable to confirm the reports in a phone call on Tuesday. ‘‘I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning from here,’’ Mr Kerry said at a NATO gathering in Brussels. ‘‘I think it’s fair to say he was not in a position to confirm that, so it’s up to him and their process as to when and how they do that. ‘‘I don’t know yet what the facts are,’’ Mr Kerry said. ‘‘I don’t think anybody knows what they are yet.’’ The differing US and Israeli assessments, one official said, may reflect varying estimates of how close the regime is to collapse, the likelihood that Islamic extremists could fill the resulting vacuum and the prospects that Sunni fighters tied to al-Qaeda or Assad's Iranian ally Hezbollah could inherit some or all of Assad’s chemical and biological weapons. Britain and France have also alleged that Mr Assad’s troops have used chemical weapons. Mr Obama said when he visited Israel last month that proof Syria used chemical weapons would change US calculations in dealing with the conflict, without specifying what actions he would take. US DefenCe Secretary Chuck Hagel, during his visit to Israel this week, reaffirmed that stance. General Brun made his remarks to the annual INSS security conference in Tel Aviv. He said the military had seen evidence indicating the use of chemical agents on several occasions, including in an incident on March 19. "One of the characteristics of the recent period is the growing use by the regime of surface-to-surface missiles, rockets and chemical weapons," he said. "To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has made use of deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the past few months," he said, referring to a March 19 incident in Aleppo province in which 31 people were killed, apparently by chemical agents. Evidence could been seen in the physical symptoms suffered by those who had apparently been exposed to chemical agents, he said. "The reduced pupils, the foam coming out of the mouth and other additional signs provide evidence that deadly chemical weapons have been used," he said, according to a transcript provided by the army. "Which chemical weapons? Apparently sarin. The regime is also using chemical weapons that neutralise and are not fatal," he said. General Brun said the symptoms were observed in photographs taken of the affected area after the attacks in question. Bloomberg, AFP ++++ http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-cant-confirm-syrian-chemical-use-says-kerry/ Netanyahu can’t confirm Syrian chemical use, says Kerry US Secretary of State tells NATO conference that PM cannot verify report by IDF ‘s top analyst that Assad using nerve gas on rebels By Mitch Ginsburg April 23, 2013, 8:36 pm 1 A victim of an alleged chemical attack is treated by doctors in Aleppo, Syria, on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. (photo credit: AP/SANA) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not confirm comments made by top IDF intelligence analyst Brig. Gen. Itai Brun that the Syrian regime has been using chemical weapons, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. “I talked to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning. I think it is fair for me to say that he was not in a position to confirm that in the conversation that I had,” Kerry told reporters at a NATO conference in Brussels. Earlier Tuesday, Brun said the IDF was quite certain that President Bashar Assad deployed chemical weapons against rebel forces in Syria on several occasions, including in a specific incident on March 19. “To the best of our understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons,” said Brun, head of the Research and Analysis Division at the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate. Attending his first meeting of the alliance’s governing body, the North Atlantic Council, as America’s top diplomat, Kerry said contingency plans should be put in place to guard against the threat of a chemical weapons strike. NATO ally Turkey borders Syria and would be most at-risk from such an attack. NATO has already deployed Patriot missile batteries in Turkey. “Planning regarding Syria, such as what (NATO) has already done, is an appropriate undertaking for the alliance,” Kerry told NATO foreign ministers. “We should also carefully and collectively consider how NATO is prepared to respond to protect its members from a Syrian threat, including any potential chemical weapons threat. Speaking at a security conference in Tel Aviv earlier Tuesday, Brun said that based on the pictures of victims in Syria — the size of their pupils, “and the foam coming out of their mouths” — the army believed that Assad’s troops had used the lethal nerve gas sarin as a weapon. Sarin, used by Saddam Hussein in aerial strikes against Iraqi Kurds in 1988 and in a Japan terror attack in 1995, is a nerve agent that cripples the respiratory system. It is hundreds of times more toxic than cyanide and is considered a weapon of mass destruction. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said Monday during a visit to Israel that “the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons would be a game changer.” At the same press conference, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon described three red lines for Israel on Syria — the transfer of sophisticated weapons systems to rogue elements, the violation of Israel’s sovereignty along the border, and the rebels’ acquisition of chemical weapons. “We are ready to operate if any rogue element is going to put his hands [on chemical agents] or any chemical agents are going to be delivered to rogue elements in the region,” he said. Brun said that in Syria today there are over 1,000 tons of chemical weapons, including sarin and VX, both of which can be deployed from artillery rounds and long-range ballistic missiles. Chemical weapons have been used on more than one occasion in Syria, and the world’s persistent reluctance to act in response to the use of those weapons is typical of the major powers’ current approach to the tremors shaking the Middle East, Brun said. Brun described US hegemony as “dominant but eroding” and said that the world powers “prefer to focus elsewhere but are sucked into the Middle East.” Pointing to a slide featuring three images — of ineffectual UN observers in Syria, of a dead Muammar Gadaffi splayed on the hood of a jeep and of the P+5 talks with Iran — he said all three depicted situations in which world involvement “did not attain achievements.” The region, he said, is undergoing “architectural changes” that will likely not stabilize in the coming years. Dominant among them has been the rise of Sunni Islamist parties, the shifting nature of global jihad and the weakening of the Iran-Syria alliance. Worsening economic conditions, unprecedented sanctions and upcoming national elections in June have weakened Iran’s position and created “an interesting gap” between Iran’s capabilities and its progress in advancing its nuclear program. “This is not a good time for Iran,” he said, adding that the regime would likely neither forgo its nuclear program nor break out for the bomb in the coming year. It is clear, though, that the Sunni Islamist movements are ascendant and that the Salafist global jihad has changed its outlook. Perched on either side of Israel, he said, “their agenda has become more local, regional.” And though the dwindling threat of a standard military attack on Israel has lowered the overall security risk to the country, it has also brought new challenges to the fore. Referring to the surprise attack in October 1973, he said, “We also have to be prepared for a cyber Yom Kippur [War].” The host of the Institute for National Security Studies conference, former head of military intelligence Amos Yadlin, asked Brun which side in the internal conflict represented the greater danger in terms of chemical weapons. “We should be very, very worried about them falling into the hands of those who do not conduct gain-loss considerations,” Brun said of the jihadist groups of rebels. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
