A senior US administration official said Thursday that “all options are on the table” if it can be confirmed that Syria has used chemical weapons against opposition forces.

The White House said earlier in the day that Syria had likely used chemical weapons against rebel fighters on a “small scale,” but emphasized that US intelligence agencies are still not 100 percent sure of the assessment.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington wants to be absolutely sure that Syria has used chemical weapons before concluding that Damascus has crossed a “red line,” triggering possible military action.

“What we will be doing is consulting closely with our friends and allies and the international community more broadly as well as the Syrian opposition to determine what the best course of action is,” he told reporters.

“I don’t want to go to hypotheticals at this juncture,” the official added.

“But suffice to say, all options are on the table, in terms of our response, and it could run a broad spectrum of activity across our various types of efforts in Syria.”

The official recalled that the United States is already engaged in “diplomatic initiatives [and] assistance to the opposition” in Syria, where the US says a grinding civil war has left more than 70,000 dead since March 2011.

“But again, at the president’s direction, there are additional options and contingencies that we prepare for, that we would have to consider as we make our determination about chemical weapon use.”

Speaking earlier Thursday, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said US intelligence services have assessed “with varying degrees of confidence” that Syria has used chemical weapons “on a small scale.”

The assessment, based in part on what Hayden called “physiological samples,” points to the possible use of sarin, a man-made nerve agent used in two attacks in Japan in the 1990s.

Hayden warned, however, the chain of custody of the weapons was “not clear, so we cannot confirm how the exposure occurred and under what conditions.”

“Given the stakes involved, and what we have learned from our own recent experience, intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient,” she said.

Mounting evidence of chemical weapons attacks on fighters battling Assad’s regime could increase the pressure on Obama — who has sought to avoid any US military role in the conflict — to intervene.

On Capitol Hill, members of Congress urged Obama to take action to “secure” Syria’s chemical weapons.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that a red line has been crossed,” Senator John McCain told reporters, adding that there is a danger of chemical weapons falling into the hands of extremists.

“We have to have operational capability to secure these chemical weapon stocks. We do not want them to fall into the wrong hands, and the wrong hands are a number of participants in the struggle that’s taking place in Syria.”

04/25/2013 - AFP

Syria’s opposition on Friday urged the UN Security Council to take immediate action after the United States said for the first time the regime probably used chemical weapons.

The call came as British Prime Minister David Cameron said that growing evidence of the use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad was “extremely serious” and called for increased foreign pressure on the Syrian regime.

“It is time for the UN Security Council to act” on Syria, an official from the main opposition National Coalition told AFP on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The UN Security Council has been stalled over Syria for more than two years, with members Russia and China backing Assad and vetoing several draft resolutions that would have imposed sanctions on the regime.

“This is a massive issue, and the Security Council’s paralysis over Syria is no excuse,” the Coalition official said.

“The UN needs to immediately investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Should it find the regime used such weapons, it must act immediately, at least by imposing a no-fly zone,” he added.

“If the Security Council cannot break its paralysis, proof of the use of chemical weapons by the regime would open the way for others, such as NATO, to act.”

The National Coalition has accused the regime of using chemical weapons in the northern province of Aleppo, in Homs in the center of Syria and in rebel-held areas near Damascus.

04/26/2013 - AFP/NOW

Growing speculation that the Syrian regime is using chemical weapons is turning up the heat on President Barack Obama, who has warned such a move would be a game changer.

The US administration, both in public and in private, says it has not concluded that such arms — of which President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has a large stockpile — have been employed in the bloody civil war.

But “it’s important that we do whatever we can to monitor, investigate and verify any credible allegations, given the enormous consequences for the Syrian people and given the President’s clear statement that chemical weapons use is unacceptable,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday.

On March 20, during a historic visit to Israel, Obama said the use of such weapons would be a “grave and tragic” mistake on Assad’s behalf and that it would be a “game changer.”

Washington has also warned that any use or transfer of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and possibly trigger military action.

Recent statements from US allies seem to suggest such arms — illegal under international law — may already have been unleashed.

The latest came Tuesday when Israeli Brigadier General Itai Brun, head of the research and analysis division of military intelligence, alleged Assad’s regime had used chemical agents — mostly likely sarin gas — more than once.

“To the best of our professional understanding, the [Assad] regime has made use of deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the last few months,” Brun told a security conference in Tel Aviv.

His comments come on the heels of similar assessments reported to the United Nations by France and Britain last month.

“The British and French submitted a letter to the UN Secretary General on March 21st to ‘bring attention to recent allegations from various sources that chemical weapons have been used in Syria,’” a senior administration official told AFP.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official added that the use of chemical weapons in an environment like Syria was very difficult to confirm.

“Given the stakes involved, low confidence assessments by foreign governments cannot be the basis for US action,” the official said.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, on a visit to Cairo Wednesday, said any evidence had to be weighed carefully.

“This is serious business and you want to be as sure as you can be on these kind of things,” Hagel said, adding the United States ultimately had to rely “on its own intelligence.”

Gregory Koblentz of the Council on Foreign Relations underscored it was important that the evidence was highly reliable, “ideally from two or more independent sources, or types of analyses that can give you that type of confidence.”

And that’s not currently the case in Syria, where access is tough and evidence transmission chains are weak.

“It’s very difficult to make that assessment, unless you have trained experts who are on the ground immediately after an attack, or able to collect samples, interview victims, interview witnesses and move about freely,” Koblentz said.

“It’s not surprising to me that different countries are coming up with different assessments because the evidence isn’t probably as strong and conclusive.”

Aram Nerguizian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said “it would take a lot more than a low grade assessment from the French and the British to trigger a major escalation here in Washington.”

“Does that mean that there’s not going to be pressure to do something? No. There will certainly be pressure in the US, pressure in the Gulf, pressure in Syria, pressure in Europe,” he told AFP.

Nerguizian also noted that Obama was cautious in formulating his warnings to Damascus, saying his statement on red lines “has always had some inbuilt ambiguity.”

“An ambiguity can be an asset, and it can be a liability, if it’s viewed as the ladder to something that puts the administration in a difficult position,” Nerguizian said. “And it has to resist the urge for a major and uncalculated response.”

04/25/2013 - AFP

#Syria - Music from munitions - A musician in Syria has found an innovative way to make instruments from weapons.

Syria’s devastating conflict entered its third year on Friday with no agreement among EU leaders on British and French calls for an easing of the bloc’s embargo to allow arms supplies to the rebels.

With several member states expressing strong opposition, EU leaders at a summit in Brussels put off further discussions on the future of the arms embargo until a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Dublin next week.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy said that leaders had discussed easing it and “agreed to task our foreign ministers to assess the situation as a matter of priority” in Ireland.

Both London and Paris had warned they were ready to break ranks with their European partners to supply weapons to the rebels as their frustration mounts that diplomacy has failed to end the conflict.

But there appeared little appetite among other Europeans for lifting the ban, many fearing that a flood of weapons into Syria will only escalate the bloodshed.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said Vienna was not prepared to lift the ban. “We think the delivery of arms does not contribute to a possible solution,” he told reporters.

A Spanish diplomatic source said there was widespread hesitation about arming the rebels.

03/15/2013

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday acknowledged for the first time that the Pentagon had backed proposals to arm the Syrian opposition battling to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

The idea — ultimately rejected — was first floated by then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who met privately with David Petraeus, CIA chief at the time, in the summer of 2012 as fighting raged in Syria.

They proposed vetting rebel groups and training fighters in a plan which they presented to the White House, according to the New York Times, quoting administration officials.

But the administration of President Barack Obama was worried about the risks of pouring more arms into the volatile conflict and rejected the idea, sticking instead to providing humanitarian assistance and non-lethal aid.

Panetta and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, admitted under questioning in the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that they had both supported the idea.

“I would ask again, both of you, what I asked you last March when 7,500 citizens of Syria had been killed. It’s now up to 60,000. How many more have to die before you recommend military action?” Senator John McCain asked them.

“And did you support the recommendation by then secretary of state Clinton and then head of CIA General Petraeus that we provide weapons to the resistance in Syria? Did you support that?”

“We did,” replied Panetta. “We did,” added Dempsey.

McCain, who has long advocated arming the rebels, said in a statement later he “was very pleased to hear” both men say they supported the proposal.

“What this means is that the president overruled the senior leaders of his own national security team, who were in unanimous agreement that America needs to take greater action to change the military balance of power in Syria,” he said.

McCain called on Obama to heed the advice of his former and current national security leaders and “immediately take the necessary steps, along with our friends and allies, that could hasten the end of the conflict in Syria.”

“The time to act is long overdue, but it is not too late.”

02/08/2013 

An Israeli air raid in Syria this week struck surface-to-air missiles and a nearby military complex on the outskirts of Damascus, as Israel feared the weapons would be transferred to Hezbollah, a US official said Friday.

12/23/2012 - #Syria - Homs - Seven people died after inhaling poisonous gas

Seven people have died in Homs after they inhaled a poisonous gas sprayed by government forces in a rebel-held neighbourhood, activists said.

Activists also told Al Jazeera that scores of others were affected in al-Bayyada neighbourhood. Side effects reported include nausea, relaxed muscles, blurred vision, and breathing difficulties.

Residents said they did not know the nature of the gas sprayed.

“The situation is very difficult. We do not have facemask. We don’t know what this gas is but medics are saying it’s something similar to Sarin gas,” Raji Rahmet Rabbou, an activist in Homs, told Al Jazeera.

Syrian rebels expect greater military help from Gulf Arab states after they announced a new command structure which aims finally to unite President Bashar al-Assad’s armed opponents, rebel commanders said on Monday.

Rebel fighters have made gains across the country in the last month, seizing military bases and taking on Assad’s better-armed forces on the fringes of his powerbase in Damascus.

Activists said fighting raged on Monday in southern Damascus near the international airport and reported clashes in the northern Damascus districts of Rukneddine and Salhiyeh - the heaviest there since the uprising began 20 months ago.

Despite using more effective battlefield tactics and acquiring more arms, the mainly Sunni Muslim fighters have so far lacked the firepower to deliver a decisive blow to Assad, from the Alawite minority linked to Shi’ite Islam.

Abu Moaz al-Agha, a leader and spokesman of the powerful Gathering of Ansar al Islam which includes many Islamist rebel brigades, said the new, Islamist-dominated military command elected in Turkey over the weekend could change that.

“What we need now is the heavy weapons and we expect to get them after the formation of this. The anti-armor and anti-aircraft weapons are what we are expecting,” he told Reuters by Skype from Turkey before heading to the Gulf.

“The Qataris and the Saudis gave us positive promises. We will see what will happen,” he said, adding that officials from Western countries, who also attended the meeting in Turkey, had not mentioned arming the rebels but talked about “sending aid”.

At least 40,000 people have been killed in Syria’s uprising, which started with street protests which were met with gunfire by Assad’s security forces, and spiraled into the most enduring and destructive of the Arab uprisings.

Stalemate between major powers, particularly the United States and Russia, has paralyzed the wider international response to the violence, leaving regional Sunni Muslim states such as Turkey and the Gulf Arab countries helping the rebels and Shi’ite Iran providing support to Assad.

Washington and Moscow sent their deputy foreign ministers to talks with international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Sunday, but a statement after the meeting showed little sign of breakthrough, although they agreed a political solution was possible in Syria.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle announced on Monday that four Syrian embassy staff were expelled from Berlin, to send a “clear message that (Germany is) reducing relations with the Assad regime to an absolute minimum”.

“REAL HOPES”

The new rebel command brings together most existing rebel entities including brigades which formed an Islamist front two months ago and “provincial military councils” which operated under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army.

A commander in an Islamist brigade in the northern province of Aleppo, which also had a strong presence in the new body, said it would ensure proper supervision of weapons supplies.

“This time people have real hopes. We believe that weapons will be delivered,” he said. “One of the main reasons for the formation of this body is so that thefts (of weapons) are controlled, and each one will get their rights and put the control in the hands of those inside and not outside Syria.”

Rebels of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, one of the most efficient fighters in Syria, are not part of the new body.

“They have their own leaders and their own structure, they fight side by side with the Free Syrian Army. We have only seen good things from them and they are good fighters,” said Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi, a senior commander in the new group.

Activists said rebels strengthened their hold on Monday over a military base in the Sheikh Suleiman region of Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city, which they overran a day earlier.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence across the country, said rebel fighters had been trying to seize the site for two weeks, after they captured a special forces base in the region last month.

The group also reported clashes in northern Damascus, where residents said parents rushed to pick up children early from school. One elementary school bus had only three students in it - one of them told the bus supervisor that all the others were collected early by their parents.

At a nearby girls’ high school, the headmistress was trying to dissuade a mother from pulling out her 16-year-old daughter before the day’s end. “If we keep letting parents pick up their kids anytime something happens, they’ll be in a constant state of panic,” she said.

The mother tried to explain that even though she was trying to keep a calm household, her husband was “really freaking out when we heard gunshots in our own street” earlier today.

In another sign of the sectarian and violent nature of the conflict, a video which activists said was filmed in the central city of Homs showed what appeared to be a youth with a long knife decapitating a man, identified as an Alawite officer. It was not possible to verify the video.

BEIRUT | Mon Dec 10, 2012 11:21am EST

30/11/2012 - #Syria - Syrian rebels acquire heavy weapons 

30/11/2012 - #Syria - Damascus, Rebels looted a depot of Assad forces on their way to the international airport

#Syria Nov 29/12 Planning, preparation and execution of assault on al Mantib (Mantor) airbase near Aleppo by the Al Sham brigade. Heavy weaponry captured.

Nov 28/12 #Syria 

With the help of God we broke into battalion 608 air defense in Aleppo countryside near Assan  town. The battalion was responsible for the protection of Aleppo International Airport. The base is fully liberated, we captured weapons: 6 Chilka cannons, 23 anti-aircraft pieces, several anti-aircraft missiles, Heavy missiles, more than five meters long (Volga), ammunition, several individual weapons, military vehicles and radar.

Syria hawks brigade, David Brigade, and the Swords of Righteousness Brigade

Translation by Syrian Freedom team

#Syria Nov 26/12 Some of the spoils after the FSA take Tishreen dam

15/11/12

#Syria, Ar Raqqa | Al-Asfar & Al-Najjar Barriers Freed by FSA (and weapons)