I don't know what to make of this:
Turkish authorities have seized a large quantity of chemicals from a convoy trying to illegally enter the country from Syria, which "could be transformed into weapons", the army said Sunday.
The convoy of three vehicles refused to stop as it attempted to illegally cross the border on Saturday near the southeastern town Turkish town of Reyhanli, the army said in a statement.
Para-military police were forced to shoot out the tyres of the vehicles to stop them, and three drivers jumped out and fled in the direction of Syria.
One of them was arrested, the army said without specifying his nationality.
The haul of sulphur and another unidentified substance will be examined by a team of army specialists, the statement said.
Sulfur? That seemed odd. I thought, what, are they seeking to make gunpowder?
But apparently sulfur is a raw material for mustard gas.
Apparently, all of Syria's declared chemical weapons and raw materials are under seal. Was this an effort to get rid of some extra stuff quietly so it didn't look like Assad was cheating? It's possible that Assad played the first round of the Kerry-Lavrov stalling operation straight and declared all he knew about. Then learned of more. And figured it would look bad just to tell the truth that would not be believed.
Or did rebels smuggle some out for some reason? I can't fathom why it might be safer in Turkey than in rebel-held territory.
Did somebody just get some chemical weapons raw materials in the chaos of the battlefield and want to sell it?
Is it innocent? I assume sulfur has innocent uses. If I had to guess, I'd say this is the most likely.
Heck, is this some of Saddam's old arsenal?
It's just a real head scratcher, for me.
UPDATE: Related:
The United States is looking at new classified intelligence indicating the Syrian government may not fully declare its chemical weapons stockpile, CNN has learned. That would mean it will still have a secret cache of chemical weapons even after the current agreed-upon destruction effort is carried out.
The intelligence is not definitive but “there are various threads of information that would shake our confidence,” one U.S. official said. “They have done things recently that suggest Syria is not ready to get rid of all their chemical weapons.”
I know. Surely, you say, a man who has used poison gas on civilians wouldn't lie to us!
He might. And don't call me Shirley.
