So Syria can't produce new chemical weapons?
Syria has completed destruction of critical equipment for producing chemical weapons and filling munitions with poison gas, the global chemical weapons watchdog said Thursday.
The announcement by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons came one day ahead of the Nov. 1 deadline set by the Hague-based organization for Damascus to destroy or "render inoperable" all chemical weapon production facilities and machinery for mixing chemicals into poison gas and filling munitions.
Well, all of the declared critical equipment is destroyed (apparently non-critical equipment still exists, please note). Years of cat-and-mouse inspections in Iraq never confirmed total destruction of Iraq's WMD capabilities (and he did retain the ability to restart chemical weapons production even if he had no weapons on hand when we invaded in 2003). So my confidence in even this limited step is low.
But let's assume this is a major step.
Now we just have to quickly destroy Assad's chemical weapons and raw materials to produce more poison gas.
And then hope that Assad doesn't use this time to defeat the rebels, eject the OPCW, and then rebuild his chemical arsenal.
Oh, and don't forget that Israel destroyed a secret nuclear reactor in Syria some years ago. So there's that.
So while this is a step, it is not the journey. And I'm reasonably sure we're on the wrong path, anyway.
UPDATE: The Syrians continue to attack rebels, secure in the knowledge that they won't face American bombers and missiles:
Syrian government forces have captured a northern town located near a chemical weapons site after days of heavy fighting, state media and a monitoring group said on Friday.
The town, Safira, is also located on a road that could be used to relieve government-controlled areas of Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub.
See what a good international citizen Assad is? He's making sure he can disarm!
Government attacks continue around Damascus, too:
Further south, fighting took place in and around the capital Damascus where the government has launched an offensive in recent months to retake rebel-held suburbs. ...
The attack is part of government attempt to retake rural towns outside Damascus by heavy shelling from afar in conjunction with a slow but creeping blockade that has prevented food or supplies from entering the area.
When the glorious, Nobel Peace Prize-worthy Kerry-Lavrov deal forbids use of chemical weapons, just starve 'em out the old fashioned way.
Still, Syria can't assume that air power won't descend on his forces like a plague of locusts.
Israel hit Russian weapons heading for Hezbollah inside Syria for the fifth time this year. And Assad is staying quiet on it:
Assad loyalists were frustrated about Israel's apparent impunity, recalling that the Syrian president had previously indicated Syria would respond to further attacks.
"Yet Israel keeps hitting us and there's no retaliation. So even the staunchest loyalists are getting very upset," he said.
If Assad retaliates in any way that is significant, Israel could send in the planes in a big strike that damages more than Hezbollah's arsenal. So staying quiet is the smart thing for Assad to do.
Oh, and about that ability to regenerate chemical weapons:
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has asked international inspectors to spare a dozen of its chemical weapons factories from the wrecking ball, The Cable has learned. The Syrians say they want to convert the plants into civilian chemical facilities.
No doubt Assad wants to turn them into baby formula factories, or something.
