Report: Terrorist Groups in Syria Armed with Chemical Weapons
Fars News, Jun 9 2012

Terrorist groups in Syria are now armed with chemical weapons, media reports disclosed on Saturday, adding that these groups receive the needed trainings on how to use such lethal weapons in Turkey. According to a report by Syrian DamPress, these chemical weapons have been transferred to Syria from Libya. The news agency pointed to the growing number of media reports on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and warned:

Any report released or to be released on the Syrian Army’s alleged use of the chemical weapons is meant to pave the ground for the terrorists to use these weapons against the people and accuse the Syrian army and government of that crime.

Meantime, the report expressed the hope that the Syrian army would foil the very dangerous plot against the country. The revelation came after the Western states and armed rebel groups embarked on butchering pro-government civilians in two separate areas and intended to project the blame on Assad’s troops, but failed. The opposition Syrian National Council claimed that forces loyal to Assad “massacred” about 100 people, including 20 women and 20 children, in the village of al-Qubeir, in province of Hama, on Wednesday. The massacre of the civilians in Hama came days after similar events in Houla. The May 25 assault on the central area of Houla was one of the bloodiest single events in Syria’s 15-month-old unrest, and gruesome images of dozens of children killed in the attacks prompted a wave of international outrage. The UN said 32 children under the age of 10 were among the dead.

While investigations into massacres and terrorist bombings prove opponents of Assad’s government are to be blamed for these crimes, the western media outlets always rush to accuse Damascus for all crimes in Syria without presenting substantiating evidence. In few cases when they release a supportive image or footage, it always later comes to be known that the evidence has been fake and distorted. This has caused deep suspicion among not just political observers and analysts, but also the people, specially those in the Middle-East. Middle-East analyst and Tehran University Professor Mohammad Marandi said the West and the Saudis are responsible for continued crimes and killings in Syria. Marandi told FNA late May:

Every time there is a terrorist attack in Syria, a suicide bombing or any other atrocity the western media and western governments immediately put the blame on the Syrian government, thus encouraging western and Saudi-backed terrorists to carry out such attacks because they will not be held accountable. Therefore, in addition to the fact that they support terrorist organizations at all levels, they have additional blood on their hands for blindly attributing all violence to Assad’s government, thus white-washing the crimes or terrorist organizations.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since Mar 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad. In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but USrael and their Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The WaPo reported that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling Assad’s government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the US. The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure. According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border. Opposition activists who two months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons, most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past, has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

Chemical warfare feared raising its head in the Syrian civil war
DEBKAfile, Jun 10 2012

Tehran pumped out a report on Jun 9 accusing Syrian rebels of arming themselves with chemical weapons originating in Libya and acquiring training in their use from an unknown source in their use. The report sent shudders of alarm through Western capitals and Israel and fears that Tehran and Damascus were preparing the ground for the Assad regime to resort to chemical warfare to finally crush its foes. Iran claimed:

Any report released on the Syrian Army’s alleged use of the chemical weapons is meant to pave the ground for the terrorists to use these weapons against the people and accuse the Syrian army and government of that crime.

Three days earlier, on Jun 7, Syrian rebel sources charged that the Syrian air force planes had dropped poisonous substances over Deraa, Hama and Idlib which knocked people unconscious. This later proved unfounded. Western military sources watching Syria’s flashpoint areas warn that the fact that both sides of the conflict are now talking openly about chemical warfare attests to their seriously getting ready for this deadly escalation, and the ultimate game-changer. If they indeed go through with it, say sources in Washington, Europe, Riyadh and Jerusalem, Obama cannot possibly stick to his refusal to take military steps in Syria and will have to step in with limited force to stop the escalating horror. In that case, the US would almost certainly be joined by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and possibly other Arab nations.