DragonI

Syrian military linked to more than 300 chemical attacks, report says

www.washingtonpost.com

The Syrian government and affiliated forces have launched more than 300 attacks using chemical weapons during the country’s nearly eight-year conflict, a report said Sunday.

The findings by the Berlin-based Global Public Policy Institute offer the most comprehensive record to date of presumed chemicals weapons use in Syria, where the long war appears to be winding down.

The tally by the policy group also could be cited as part of possible international war crimes cases against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Global Public Policy Institute (GPPI) said it had “credibly substantiated” 336 uses of chemical weapons, ranging from nerve agents to crude but dangerous chlorine bombs,

Almost all the attacks — 98 percent — were attributed to Assad’s military or allied forces, including loyalist militias known as the Tiger Forces that also have the backing of Russia. The rest of the attacks were attributed to the Islamic State, which once held major parts of Syria.

The GPPI analysis begins Dec. 23, 2012. But the vast majority of the attacks it cites took place after then-President Obama’s 2012 declaration that use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians would be his administration’s red line.

The researchers said they based their findings on witness statements and post-attack analysis, including reports of the effects from the apparent chemical agents and how the weapons were delivered on the attack sites.

“The Assad regime did not merely ‘get away’ with its use of these banned weapons,” said the report. “It succeeded in using them for strategic ends.”

A Syrian farmer quoted by Kelley and his coauthors confirmed that “of course” drought, migration, and unemployment had pushed many toward rebellion. According to the farmer, “when the drought happened, we could handle it for two years, and then we said, ‘It’s enough’