High-Level U.S. Intelligence Officers: Syrian Government Didn't Launch Chemical Weapons

Ive been away from ATS for about a year but Syria has brought me back, and I am so glad to again find so many informed and intelligent people here actively talking about stuff that matters. If you have not already done so, make sure to write your congressman and tell them vote NO on Syria! I just quickly typed a few points down and sent them to both senators in my home state of PA. Please feel free to use this and fire off a few e-mails to your government officials as well. Also, any feedback positive or negative, additions or subtractions would also be appreciated. My goal was to just state the case for opposing any involvement in Syria as concisely as well packaged as possible.

"You must vote NO in having any intervention with Syria next week for many reasons, I will list only 10:
1. It is not the responsibility of the USA to be the policeman of the world, nor do I wish so, and neither did our founding fathers.
2. Journalists on the ground in Syria have reported the rebels admitted setting off the weapon (although accidentally, during which about 12 rebels died thru mishandling the weapon-given to them by Saudi Arabia)
3. We are funding the rebels, about half of which are al Qaeda or hessbolah.
4. Assad denies ordering the attack and no evidence has been shared with the american people the contrary. Presumably there is no evidence, this is a fabricated false flag.
5. Assad would have nothing to gain by using chemical weapons, the rebels, however knew it would draw in the US and maybe other countries. (give the US an excuse to intervene directly).
6. The "red line" hype is bull #. It is the weakest reason to kill people I have ever heard. Conveniently a few days after he issued this strange warning there were chemical weapons used? huh weird.
7. What exactly would a limited strike accomplish long term?
8. More importantly what are the costs or potential blowback from countries such as Iran, Russia, and China of striking syria?
9. Where is the threat to our country? The USA has no skin in this game as far as the citizens are concerned.
10. Don't we have bigger things to worry about than antagonizing unstable countries and provoking WW3? maybe we should spend some time to rework our monetary system before it... I don't know.. collapses?
END
"

reply to post by Jwaack711


Very pointed and forceful. Hope your government listens.

I just read in some German news, that Denis McDonough said to CNN that they DO NOT have evidence that it was Assad, but the logic would tell, that it was Assad.... wait what?
Did he really say this?
They have NO evidence at all, because this is not how intel works.... Really?
We are not talking about some simple car theft or something, we are talking about going to a dangerous war and they dont even have the hard evidence. And they admit it.... and still some people won't see the truth?

English source

"All of that leads to, as I say, a quite strong common sense test, irrespective of the intelligence, that suggests that the regime carried this out," McDonough said. He then reframed the question this way: "Do we have a picture or do we have irrefutable, beyond a reasonable doubt evidence?" McDonough said. "This is not a court of law. And intelligence does not work that way," he said, answering his own question.

www.politico.com...


Btw. on another note, how would an airstrike look like? Bombing the storages with chemical weapins in it and set them free and just hope that nobody passes by and dies?

This all is just insane...

reply to post by aLLeKs


ah yes, you nailed it with the insane remark...
tetra

reply to post by R_Clark



Read carefully. The question raised by the people in OP's letter is whether it is known whether Bashar Assad ordered the chemical weapon attack, which is questionable, not whether the "Syrian Government" is responsible---and the evidence is fairly strong that it is.

Dick Cheney did not personally order prisoners to be tortured in a prison in Iraq, but somebody in the U.S. government was responsible. (and not just the low level scrubs they prosecuted for it).

Hello!! I'm new here so I can't open new thread!!
Read this:

www.ansa.it...

This morning Piccinin and Quirico were released by Syria and they hear that the rebel used gas

reply to post by Karletto87


I couldn't find an English source yet, but here is the Belgian "Le Soir":

« C’est un devoir moral de le dire. Ce n’est pas le gouvernement de Bachar Al-Assad qui a utilisé le gaz sarin ou autre gaz de combat dans la banlieue de Damas. Nous en sommes certains suite à une conversation que nous avons surprise. Même s’il m’en coûte de le dire parce que depuis mai 2012 je soutiens férocement l’armée syrienne libre dans sa juste lutte pour la démocratie », a déclaré l’enseignant dans une interview qu’il a accordé à RTL.

And the Google translation:

"It is a moral duty to tell. It is not the government of Bashar al-Assad has used sarin gas or other fighting in the suburbs of Damascus. We are sure after a conversation we surprise. Even if it costs me to say because since May 2012 I fiercely support the Free Syrian Army in their just struggle for democracy, "said the teacher in an interview he gave to RTL.

S ource: Le Soir

Originally posted by mbkennel
reply to post by R_Clark

 

Read carefully. The question raised by the people in OP's letter is whether it is known whether Bashar Assad ordered the chemical weapon attack, which is questionable, not whether the "Syrian Government" is responsible---and the evidence is fairly strong that it is.

Dick Cheney did not personally order prisoners to be tortured in a prison in Iraq, but somebody in the U.S. government was responsible. (and not just the low level scrubs they prosecuted for it).

Neither Assad nor Syrian government is responsible.

It is mercenaries hired by Saudi Arabia and facilitated by CIA.

Do you need to know more?

US is engaging in a dis-information campaign and the US admin is telling lies.

reply to post by Karletto87


Well, it looks like Pierre Piccinin's accounts of Syria are as much of a cluster as we've seen reported from both sides.

Back in 2012, Piccinin makes a trip to Syria as an Assad supporter, gets mistaken by the Syrian Secret Service as a spy and is tortured in their prisons for a week. (Details of torture in Assad's prisons are included in link.)

Someone who's obviously a glutton for punishment, returns to Syria in April 2013 and gets kidnapped by an Al Qaeda rebel group in Aleppo for suspected of being an Assad spy, and is thrown into a basement and tortured for five months.

The whole country needs a clean sweep, but that's never going to happen. Too much damage from both sides.

www.uruknet.de...

reply to post by GargIndia

It is mercenaries hired by Saudi Arabia and facilitated by CIA.

You need to do some more homework. You've got Russian extremists from Chechnya in there too. This isn't one sided on who let the extremists in and who's arming them.