Early last week we reported that Syrian rebels were claiming exposure to chemical attacks from the Assad regime and new reports back up their disputed claim.
Ynetnews, a widely read Israel newspaper, reports that "Western intelligence sources" learned its initial doubts were wrong and chemical weapons have been used no more than 19 times.
A close examination of footage and other material by experts in the West proved that the regime's army has in fact been using paralyzing chemical agents for a few months now against the rebels and civilians who support them. These agents are not mustard gas, Sarin nerve gas or VX, which are classified as chemical weapons, but they can definitely be considered toxic and harmful to humans.
For now, there have been less than 20 incidents in which Syrian army forces and the Shabiha militia have sprayed gas or a toxic liquid in rebel-held residential neighborhoods. Since the rebels did not display any bomb remnants, it is safe to assume that the gas was sprayed manually.
Videos at the time and independent medical sources lent credence to reports last week, but U.S. officials told Wired's Danger Room they doubted the claims.
More unnamed sources to rebut unnamed sources, with each side having its own agenda. Israel bombed a Syrian nuclear facility in 2007 and if the U.S. admits chemical weapons are in use it will have crossed the "Red Line" of military action.
Th "Line" was the Pentagon's promise to intervene militarily if it learned Assad's regime put the weapons into play.
Breitbart goes a step further and calls out the Obama administration for "Yawning" at the facts and ignoring its commitment.
From Breitbart:
Rebel forces in Syria report that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is now using chemical weapons on them. Moreover, intelligence operatives from the West have confirmed those reports as well. But there has yet to be a peep out of the Obama administration over it. This news is made even worse by the fact that death numbers rolling in from Syria show 24-hour periods in which 400 people have been killed by conventional warfare alone. Add chemical weapons to that and who knows how high the death toll for one day could climb?
To date, over 44,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict and estimates are that the number could climb to 100,000 by the end of 2013 if there is no true intervention.
CNN confirms that 100,000 estimate and mentions Saturday was perhaps the deadliest single day of the conflict with nearly 400 fatalities listed by the opposition.
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