From: | Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org> |
Date: | Mon, 18 Nov 2013 09:38:15 -0800 (PST) |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | [CPEO-MEF] CHEMWEAPONS, GLOBAL: "West Faces Challenge in Moving Syrian Chemical Arms Through Battlefields" |
West Faces Challenge in Moving Syrian Chemical Arms Through Battlefields By DAVID E. SANGER, THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT New York Times November 17, 2013WASHINGTON - A plan announced over the weekend for getting the bulk of Syria’s chemical weapons out of the country in coming weeks has raised major concerns in Washington, because it involves transporting the weapons over roads that are battlegrounds in the country’s civil war and loading them onto a ship that has no place to go. Security for the shipments is being provided entirely by Syrian military units loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, who has surprised American officials with how speedily he has complied with an agreement brokered by Russia to identify and turn over his chemical weapon stockpiles. Intelligence analysts and Pentagon officials say the shipments will be vulnerable to attack as they travel past the ruins of a war that has raged for two and a half years. Asked over the weekend what the backup plan would be if the chemical weapons components were attacked by opposition forces linked to Al Qaeda, or even elements of Mr. Assad’s own forces, a senior American official said: "That's the problem - no one has attempted this before in a civil war, and no one is willing to put troops on the ground to protect this stuff, including us." Another official noted that the choice now facing the United States and other nations was to "either leave the stuff in place and hope for the best, or account for it, get it out of there, and hope for the best. That's the ‘least worst’ option." ... For the entire article, seehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/18/world/middleeast/west-faces- challenge-in-moving-syrian-chemical-arms-through-battlefields.html ... For the entire article, see -- Lenny Siegel Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight a project of the Pacific Studies Center 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041 Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545 Fax: 650/961-8918 <lsiegel@cpeo.org> http://www.cpeo.org _______________________________________________ Military mailing list Military@lists.cpeo.org http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org | Follow-Ups |
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