Who perpetrated the nerve gas attack in Syria?

When presented with conflicting stories about important events, I resort to the following:

- I prefer credible reports on the ground rather than those of visiting outsiders.

- I like to listen to multiple sources, even conflicting ones, rather that relying on single sources that may be dominated by ideology.

- I put more trust in verifiable facts rather than opinions. Here are some facts about Syria:

1. The rebels have no air force. It is well documented that hospitals and schools have been systematically bombed. Who might have done that?

2. In 2015 Assad’s regime was about to collapse due to widespread opposition victories. Russia than stepped in with a massive bombing campaign on Syria’s behalf.

3. Syria is obviously a strategically placed country. Gulf oil could be shipped through it to Europe and beyond. It is Russia’s sole exit point to the Mediterranean Sea.

4. During the Obama time, Syria promised to get rid of gas weapons. This was a tacit admission that they had these weapons.

5. After over six years of dreadful warfare in which all kinds of war crimes have been committed, I think the best news sources are the people on the ground who have suffered through all of this and know the results first hand.

Now with regard to the recent nerve gas attack and the US response, I have seen Paul Jay’s interview with Lawrence Wilkerson, and I have read the reports that a rebel nerve gas factory or holding station has been bombed.  On the other hand, I have been following the situation carefully in Syria over many months. My primary source is Al Jazeera news (AJ). They have Arabic speakers on the ground. They have developed a reputation for objectivity. They have offended many Arabic countries (i.e. Egypt, Syria etc.) and their journalists have been harassed by countries who do not like their reporting. I also look at other news sources, BBC, RT, PBS, CBC. CNN.

For months AJ has been documenting gas attacks in Syria. Local people regularly report that these attacks take place during mainly during Syrian air raids (please note that the rebels have NO aircraft). The majority of the gas attacks have been chlorine gas attacks. AJ has reported that sometimes the rebels have used chlorine gas but by far the majority of such gases attacks have come from the Syrian government. Nerve gas attacks are rarer. It is extremely unlikely that rebels could have the technology to mount such attacks. The Syrian government with Russian support could pull this off. We know that Syria has admitted to having dangerous gases in the past. Under an agreement with the Obama administration they have promised to get rid of all such gases.

I would encourage you to read carefully the testimony of a Syrian doctor who was the head of the Syrian Medical Society and has studied medicine and worked for six years with president Assad. He has gone back to his home country several times to treat victims of the war. He has no doubt that president Assad had been behind many of the gas attacks in Syria (approximately 175 to date). Other medics with sources in Syria have substantiated these claims.

So we have to decide, who is most likely to have committed these many gas attacks? If it was the rebels, where did they get a sophisticated nerve gas such as Sarin? Was it supplied by Europe, the US or Turkey? How likely is this?

If Assad is behind this, where could he get sophisticated nerve gases? Russia? Iran?

Let us assume that both sides are capable of telling monstrous lies. Assad said that he would get rid of all of his known dangerous gas stockpiles. Should we believe him?

Looking at all of this in balance, given months of reports from the ground, I tend to believe that president Assad is behind most of these gas attacks. I think if any kind of survey were to be held among the millions of Syrian refugees on Syria’s borders you would find massive discontent with president Assad. That is one reason why this dreadful civil war has dragged on now into its seventh year.

I am not a supporter of Trump. But to me that does not lead me to conclude that he was wrong in deciding that the Syrian government has been behind recent gas attack on the civilian population in Syria. He has after all made a major reversal in his attitude to this question. What do you think motivated him? Yes, it is a wonderful distraction from his many other problems. But he is now at odds with Russia, a country that he has admired so much in the past.

Rebellious Seeker