This is a shock?
The global chemical weapons watchdog issued a report Wednesday blaming the Syrian air force for a series of chemical attacks using sarin and chlorine in late March 2017 on the central town of Latamneh.
The report marks the first time the Investigation and Identification Team, set up in 2018 by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, has apportioned blame for an attack in Syria and will likely lead to fresh calls for accountability for the regime of President Bashar Assad.
I know what you are thinking. No way is this possible! I mean, under orders from President Obama, John Kerry worked with Russia's Lavrov to negotiate the 2013 chemical weapons deal with Assad that totally got rid of Assad's chemical weapons arsenal and raw materials. And Syria even joined the Chemical Weapons Convention! Now that's commitment, eh?
The deal was always a farce meant to get past a brief moment when there was some tiny bit of pressure to do something to stop the death count many hundreds of thousand dead ago.
But we go on pretending that we can negotiate in good faith with thug rulers who want the means to kill in the most grisly fashion possible.
And Assad's regime played its role fully:
“Syria condemns in the strongest terms what was stated in the report," an unnamed official with the Foreign Ministry said, according to a statement on state media. “At the same time, it categorically denies that it used toxic gases in the town of Latamneh or in any other Syrian city or village.”
All they have to do is deny responsibility despite any evidence and they cloud the issue enough to avoid real consequences. No doubt the stories will soon be planted that American forces actually did the deed to make Assad look bad and justify invasion.
The sainted international community doesn't care what Assad does to win. And apportioning blame in 2020 for attacks in in 2017 makes the news too stale for anyone to act. Or even to care. And quite likely even be sure the charge is true.
