Syrian offer on UN team 'too little, too late'
What can one say ? The bloody West wants is War. It wants its neocolonialist control of the rest of the world.
This is just a way to get that. Hague talks about 'consequences' for the use of chemical weapons. He should look at his own countries record. How its Prime Minister boasted of retaining the right to chemically bomb 'the niggers'. Of having actually used chemicals in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last century.
Syrian offer on UN team 'too little, too late'
Military response to chemical weapons attack from west on table despite decision to allow inspectors in
Syria appears to have bowed to international pressure to allow UN investigators to travel to the scene of last week's chemical weapons attack in Damascus, allowing a forensic science team to visit the site on Monday.
The green light for the UN inspection came almost five days after the attack and was immediately greeted with scepticism by western leaders and chemical weapons experts, who say it may now be too late for inspectors to gather useful scientific results.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, said it was "clear it was the Assad regime" that had carried out the attack, while a US official told reporters the move was "too late to be credible".
Hague's remarks added impetus to a mounting international readiness for a military response to the attack, which is believed to have killed hundreds and has significantly increased the threat of intervention in Syria.
Tehran and Damascus on Sunday warned against any form of western response, which Syrian state television said would turn the region into a "ball of flame".
Downplaying the significance of Syria's decision to let UN weapons inspectors visit the site of the attack, Hague said all the evidence suggested the regime was to blame and inspectors would have been admitted last week if Damascus had nothing to hide.
"We cannot in the 21st century allow the idea that chemical weapons can be used with impunity, that people can be killed in this way and that there are no consequences for it," Hague said.
The US, Britain and France have been warning of a "serious response" to the attack, and steadily sharpened their rhetoric in the latter half of last week. They have been joined by Turkey and some Arab states in demanding access to the affected area in the east of the capital since it was hit with a barrage of rockets apparently containing a neurotoxin in the early hours of Wednesday.
Downing Street sources said the UK was considering a range of military responses, including air strikes, the imposition of a no-fly zone and arming the rebels in Syria. It is understood David Cameron is pressing for a response within a week or so. While air strikes remain on the table, the use of ground troops – "boots on the ground", in Whitehall parlance – has been ruled out by Britain.
Government sources insisted that Britain would only act in a lawful way, but the government does not believe that necessarily requires a UN security council resolution. Intervention could be justified legally on humanitarian grounds, or under international law relating to chemical weapons.
General Sir Nick Houghton, the chief of the defence staff, will be discussing the military options with fellow defence chiefs, including the most senior US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, at a summit in Amman on Monday.
Russia warned the US against repeating past mistakes, saying unilateral military action in Syria would undermine efforts for peace and have a devastating impact on the security situation in the Middle East.
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Additional reporting by Rory Carroll
posted by Satish Sharma at
02:00
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