{"id":109236,"date":"2018-04-16T12:01:21","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T11:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=109236"},"modified":"2018-04-14T19:33:28","modified_gmt":"2018-04-14T18:33:28","slug":"pentagon-does-not-have-evidence-of-chlorine-sarin-use-in-syrias-douma-us-defense-secretary-mattis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/04\/pentagon-does-not-have-evidence-of-chlorine-sarin-use-in-syrias-douma-us-defense-secretary-mattis\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Does Not Have Evidence of Chlorine, Sarin Use in Syria\u2019s Douma–US Defense Secretary Mattis"},"content":{"rendered":"

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12 Apr 2018 – <\/em>US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has told lawmakers that the US military is still “assessing the intelligence” on the alleged chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma, and that President Trump has yet to decide whether to launch strikes against the Middle Eastern country.<\/p>\n

“There have been a number of\u00a0these attacks. In many cases, you know we don’t have troops, we’re not engaged on\u00a0the ground there, so I cannot tell you that we had evidence, even though we had a lot of\u00a0media and social media indicators that either chlorine or sarin were used,” Mattis said, speaking to\u00a0members of\u00a0the House Armed Services Committee today.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The defense secretary said he did believe that a chemical attack took place, but\u00a0that the US was still “looking for\u00a0the actual evidence.”<\/p>\n

“We’re still assessing the intelligence, ourselves and our allies. We’re still working on\u00a0this,” he reiterated.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Warning that he was concerned that a US strike might lead to\u00a0an “out of\u00a0control” escalation in\u00a0the Syrian war, Mattis said that Washington was “committed to\u00a0ending that war through\u00a0the Geneva process through\u00a0the UN-orchestrated effort.”<\/p>\n

“On a strategic level, [the issue is] how do we keep this from\u00a0escalating out\u00a0of control, if you get my drift on\u00a0that,” he said, alluding to\u00a0the prospects of\u00a0a confrontation between\u00a0Russian and US forces deployed in\u00a0the Middle Eastern country.<\/p>\n

No Decision Yet<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Secretary Mattis, President Trump has yet to\u00a0decide whether or not to\u00a0launch an attack. “We’ve not yet made any decision to\u00a0launch military attacks into\u00a0Syria,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to\u00a0talk about\u00a0a specific attack that is not yet in\u00a0the offing, knowing that this would be pre-decisional. Again, the president has not made that decision,” he added.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No Congressional Approval Needed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mattis said he would discuss Syria options at\u00a0a National Security Council meeting later Thursday, and promised to\u00a0keep lawmakers informed if the Pentagon did decide to\u00a0attack. He added, however, that the White House has the authority to\u00a0conduct strikes without\u00a0seeking Congressional approval.<\/p>\n

Asked if the US was ready to\u00a0mount an attack, Mattis replied that “We stand ready to\u00a0provide military options if they’re appropriate, as\u00a0the president determined.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Emphasizing that the use of\u00a0chemical weapons was “simply inexcusable,” the defense secretary also accused Moscow of\u00a0complicity in\u00a0Syria’s alleged retention of\u00a0a chemical weapons stockpile.<\/p>\n

Syrian opposition media reports last week of\u00a0an alleged chemical attack by\u00a0government troops prompted the US and its allies to\u00a0blame Damascus and to\u00a0start preparations for\u00a0a possible military response. The Syrian government denied responsibility. The Russian Center for\u00a0Reconciliation sent inspectors to\u00a0Douma, finding no trace of\u00a0chemical weapons use. Moscow has called for\u00a0an independent investigation into\u00a0the matter.<\/p>\n

Syrian President Bashar Assad warned Thursday<\/a> that any Western military intervention in\u00a0Syria would “contribute nothing but\u00a0an increase in\u00a0instability in\u00a0the region, threatening international peace and security.”<\/p>\n

Syria destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile in\u00a02013 in\u00a0a deal brokered by\u00a0Russia and the United States in\u00a0exchange for\u00a0the latter’s agreement not to\u00a0attack the Middle Eastern country. In 2014, the Organization for\u00a0the Prohibition of\u00a0Chemical Weapons confirmed that Syria’s chemical weaposn arsenal had been eliminated.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 sputniknews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12 Apr 2018 – “There have been a number of these attacks. In many cases, you know we don’t have troops, we’re not engaged on the ground there, so I cannot tell you that we had evidence, even though we had a lot of media and social media indicators that either chlorine or sarin were used,” Mattis said, speaking to members of the House Armed Services Committee today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":109237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}