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Video evidence and a doctor's report on his patients' symptoms constitute strong evidence of the use of chlorine. Amnesty is ultra-cautious in drawing a definite conclusion, but that does not mean the accusation is "spurious". Chlorine is not as lethal as sarin. But still, firing chlorine laden missiles into an urban neighbourhood is an attempt to terrorise the civilian population. The use of chemical weapons was merely one aspect of the siege imposed on Sheikh Maqsoud by some reactionary rebel groups. I won't comment on Salih Muslim's interview without seeing the full text. I don't advocate US bombing as a response to rebel use of chemical weapons. Chris Slee ________________________________ From: Michael Karadjis <mkarad...@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, 13 April 2017 4:35:19 PM To: Chris Slee; Activists and scholars in Marxist tradition Subject: Re: [Marxism] PYD: US bombing of airbase good, but it should bomb rebels too -----Original Message----- From: Chris Slee Readers can look at Amnesty International's report on the siege of Sheikh Maqsoud (a predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood of Aleppo) by some rebel groups and decide for themselves if the accusation is "spurious": https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/syria-armed-opposition-groups-committing-war-crimes-in-aleppo-city/ ................................... Yes, we already had that discussion, so I'll just post it here again, and then you tell me if this spurious accusation is in the same league as Assad's sarin massacre and whether it justifies the PYD leader calling for US air strikes on the rebels: Amnesty: "There are also **allegations** that members of armed groups attacking Sheikh Maqsoud **may have** used chemical weapons. A local doctor told Amnesty International that on 7 and 8 April he treated six civilians and two YPG fighters for symptoms including shortness of breath, numbness, red eyes and severe coughing fits. Several of the victims, he said, reported seeing yellow smoke as missiles impacted. A toxicologist consulted by Amnesty International, who viewed video-clips of the apparent attack and reviewed the doctor’s testimony, said the patients’ symptoms **could be** the effects of a chlorine attack. A subsequent statement purportedly issued by the leader of the Army of Islam armed group said that a field commander had deployed an **“unauthorised weapon”** on Sheikh Maqsoud and that he would be held to account". https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/05/syria-armed-opposition-groups-committing-war-crimes-in-aleppo-city/ Not sure that the only cause of “shortness of breath, numbness, red eyes and severe coughing fits” is the use of chemical weapons. Lots of “may”, “could” etc in this report for very good reason. But the trouble with the bit about a Jaysh Islam leader disciplining a northern field commander (JI is almost entirely a Damascus-based group) for use of “weapons not authorized for use in these types of confrontations” is that JI specified it was referring to “modified Grad rockets, not chlorine: https://twitter.com/islamalloush0/status/718121743949414403. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
