The United Nations chemical weapons report was released Monday confirming the use of Sarin nerve gas attacks in Syria. It was unsure whether highly-anticipated report would or would not not point a finger to the side responsible, the Syrian government or the rebel opposition, but the report noticeably stops short of mentioning such.
The 38-page report by UN inspectors does, however, note that rockets loaded with Sarin were deployed on Damascus suburbs killing upwards of 1,400 civilians on August 21. It could also be a deciding factor for Congress on whether or not to vote on military intervention in the country.
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to a resolution put forth by Russian diplomats specifically noting that U.S. threats of military strikes were not the reason for his submission to diplomacy.
Currently Secretary of State John Kerry is undertaking a sweeping European campaign to bolster support for an additional concession in the resolution that would have Syria’s weapons destroyed by next year at the latest.
According to the Wall Street Journal, though, “Rather, the three officials vaguely described economic sanctions and other penalties that could be enforced against Damascus under a binding Chapter 7 resolution at the Security Council, but there was no mention of the approval of military action.” The three officials are Kerry, French President François Hollande, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon spoke to the U.N. Security Council to address the findings of the report, citing several interviews with victims, authorities, and medical personnel, as well as the findings by scientific analysis. The findings are as follows:
“(a)The environmental and biomedical samples demonstrate the widespread nature of the attacks. Eighty-five per cent of the blood samples tested positive for sarin. Biomedical samples were taken from 34 of the 36 patients selected by the Mission who had signs of poisoning. Almost all tested positive for exposure to sarin.
(b)These results were corroborated by the clinical assessments, which documented symptoms and signs consistent with nerve agent exposure. A number of affected patients were diagnosed with intoxification by an organophosphorous compound, and clearly showed symptoms associated with sarin, including loss of consciousness, shortness of breath, blurred vision, eye inflammation, vomiting and seizures.
(c)A majority of the environmental samples confirmed the use of sarin. The samples were taken from impact sites and surrounding areas – locations where survivors were also found to have been affected by sarin.
(d)The team was also able to examine impacted and exploded surface-to-surface rockets that are capable of carrying a chemical payload. These were carefully measured, photographed and sampled. A majority of the rockets or rocket fragments recovered were found to be carrying sarin.”
Syria has since signed on to the Chemical Weapons Convention, barring it from possessing any arms of the sort, circumstantially linking the country to the evidence though that cannot be confirmed and likely won’t be.
The statement does urge both sides of the civil war to tend to the negotiating table and make strides at arriving at some kind of peaceful end.
