I find this fascinating:
The OPCW also wants nearly 800 tons of dual-use chemicals, many of which are common industrial chemicals, to be removed by Feb. 5 and later destroyed by private companies as part of the organization's ambitious plan to completely eradicate Syria's chemical weapons program by mid-2014.
We're getting rid of Assad's chemical weapons--and his arsenal includes actual filled weapons. But that process of "complete eradication" includes eliminating "dual-use chemicals"? Many of them "common industrial chemicals"?
Huh.
Because while we did not find post-1991 manufactured chemical weapons in Iraq after we invaded in 2003--in part to eliminate Saddam's chemical weapons capabilities--the anti-war left insists that Saddam did not have a chemical weapons capability despite having lots of dual-use chemicals, many of them common industrial chemicals.
I know I mentioned this before. But I'd like to repeat it. Saddam had the raw materials to quickly restart mustard gas production and lacked only key precursors to begin small-scale nerve gas production. As I noted in that post:
So Syria with chemical weapons precursors rather than chemical-filled shells is just an easier job of getting rid of Assad's chemical weapons capabilities. Mission accomplished sooner! Yay President Obama!
Saddam with chemical weapons precursors is a failure to justify a war based on "lies" about Iraq's chemical weapons capabilities. Boo President Bush!
Got it.
Syria is way different than Iraq. Can't even compare the two Baathist minority regimes. Or their chemical arsenals.
Fortunately, hope and change are key precursor ingredients that, when combined, make Syria a triumph of chemical weapons disarmament.
UPDATE: Let me add bonus material on how pre-war inspections did not clear Saddam of the charge of having WMD programs.
Saddam had the obligation to prove he had disarmed. He did not do that, among other reasons, because he fully intended to restart his programs when freed of sanctions.
