U.S. total of Syrian gas deaths could include bomb casualties

U.S. total of Syrian gas deaths could include bomb casualties - sources

Now more questions about the Syria gas attacks.

Somebody apparently is questioning the number of people *actually* killed by gas.

It's possible that some of the casualties were killed by bombing instead.

According to this Reuters story, some U.S. congressional sources are now casting doubt on the 'counts' of 1429 total and 426 children.

The "sources" are saying some discussions about these possibilities are being talked about in closed door briefings.

Makes us wonder who we should trust with this ?

Three congressional sources told Reuters that administration officials had indicated in private that some deaths might have been caused by the conventional bombing that followed the release of sarin gas in suburban Damascus neighborhoods. This disclosure undermined support for President Barack Obama's plan to strike Syria, they said.

A White House spokeswoman referred all questions about the death toll numbers - including a request for comment on whether controversy about the numbers was undermining support on Capitol Hill for administration policy - to intelligence agency spokespeople.

"The Intelligence Community has a high bar for its assessments but it is virtually impossible to achieve 100 percent certitude," said Shawn Turner, chief spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. "That's not the way intelligence works.

One of the congressional sources said that administration officials in closed door briefings said they could not rule out that some victims included in the U.S. death toll were killed either by conventional explosive parts of rockets which carried poison gas or in the artillery barrage the United States says followed the gas attack.

Exclusive: U.S. total of Syrian gas deaths could include bomb casualties - sources