How To Go To Heaven: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/how_to_be_saved.html http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/06/opinion/bergen-chemical-weapons-syria/ Al Qaeda's track record with chemical weapons By Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst updated 5:41 AM EDT, Tue May 7, 2013 (CNN) -- On Monday, a U.N. official said that Syrian rebels had likely used the nerve agent sarin. Carla Del Ponte, the veteran war crimes prosecutor and a commissioner of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry for Syria, made this claim on a Swiss-Italian TV station. Del Ponte explained, "Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated." Del Ponte added, "This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities." The U.N. commission later pedaled back from Del Ponte's statement, saying that it "has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict." The context here, of course, is that President Barack Obama is under pressure to act in Syria because of his tough statement in August that the use of chemical or biological weapons in the Syrian conflict would cross a "red line." In the past few weeks, there have been multiple reports that Bashar al-Assad's regime has deployed chemical weapons. (And after Del Ponte's remarks were reported, a U.S. State Department official told CNN that the United States does not have information suggesting that rebels have "either the capability or the intent to deploy or use such weapons." But, the source said, the "facts are not complete" and efforts to obtain more information are ongoing.) ut Del Ponte's statement that the opposition is likely using chemical weapons raises an important issue: How plausible is the use of such weapons by any of the many armed factions that are fighting al-Assad's regime? The most effective Syrian opposition group is widely considered to be al-Nusra Front. The U.S. State Department says that al-Nusra Front is simply a cover name for al Qaeda in Iraq, which has long operated in Iraq and neighboring Syria. It is a worrisome fact that al Qaeda in Iraq is the only al Qaeda franchise ever to have actually used chemical weapons. Al Qaeda in Iraq detonated a series of crude chlorine bombs in Iraq from late 2006 through mid-2007. A study by the New America Foundation found a total of 16 chlorine gas bombings in Iraq, the last of which was in June 2007. LINK FOR REST http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7543049 Iraq Insurgents Turn to Chlorine Bombs by Anne Garrels February 22, 2007 For the third time in a month, Iraqi insurgents have set off a make-shift chemical bomb. All three have used chlorine, which can kill if inhaled and can burn the eyes and skin. The use of chemicals in attacks is a new tactic, reflecting the adaptibility of insurgent groups. The U.S. military confirms that a pickup truck carrying canisters of chlorine exploded in southwestern Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least five and sending dozens more to hospitals. On Tuesday, a bomb destroyed a tanker truck filled with chlorine north of the capital, killing nine and spewing fumes that made more than 140 sick, including women and children. There has been at least one other attack with chlorine. In late January, 16 were reportedly killed after a pickup truck with the gas blew up in Sunni-dominated Anbar province. Killings and bombings have decreased in the center of Baghdad following the beginning of new security operations, but Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the chief American military spokesman, said surrounding areas have since seen an increase. LINK FOR REST

• published: 27 Aug 2013
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