Israel's U.S. Envoy Says Strike on Syria Chemical Arms 'Very Complex'
Military action in response to Syria's suspected use of chemical weapons would be "very, very complex," the Israeli ambassador to the United States said Sunday.
Michael Oren said air strikes on chemical weapons bases pose a risk of collateral damage to civilians if agent is dispersed, and under international law the attacker would be at fault.
"That's why Israel is not making, urging any action by the United States in Syria, because we understand the complexity of it and we share the concerns of the United States and our neighbors," Oren said on Fox News Sunday.
U.S. intelligence has concluded Syria probably used chemical weapons against its own people, but President Barack Obama has pressed for a more definitive judgment.
He had warned Syria that use of chemical weapons in its civil war would be a "game changer."
Oren said the United States was in high level talks with Israel and other Middle Eastern countries about the situation.
"While we can't discuss details we are working out ways we can address this threat," Oren said.
He added that removing the threat posed by Syria's chemical weapons stockpile by military force "is very, very complex."
"Even under international law, if you strike a chemical weapons base and there is collateral damage to civilians it is as if you, the attacker, used chemical weapons," he said.
"And hence we are having this very close high level dialogue with the United States."
28 April 2013, 23:46
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No it is not complex. Let me refer you to the Lebanese military and intelligence (ya 3ein) strategists: allouchti, GabbyMarch14, geha (or his 7maro, who is brighter than he, if 7maro available) and NostraBenzona, a permanent tenant on planet Dreamus. These guys know what it takes to finish off Assad and his regime and they have been predicting it, too. They have done it very successfully over 12,785 times since 2005, and they are still at it. Now there are others, of course, such as andre.jabbour, peace and the1phoenix, to name a few, but they have not graduated, yet. Who knew Lebanon had such an abundance of brilliant folks?
29 April 2013, 03:26
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Today, just as it happened a decade ago in Iraq, untrue claims of the employment of Syrian chemical weapons against foreign-backed militants are used as an excuse to launch an aggressive war to benefit Israeli and US geo-strategic interests in the Middle East.Some wonder why the US and Israel are trying to use the pretext of chemical weapons just now. The real reason is probably the changes in the battlefield in Syria. Actually, the Western-backed militants, including those having links with Al Qaeda-, have suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Syrian army, including the loss of the strategic towns of Al Qusayr, near the Lebanon border, and Otaiba, east of Damascus, both of which had served as important corridors for the passage of militants and weapons supplied by Western countries and Gulf monarchies. These Western and Gulf governments now fear that, without a direct Western military aggression, terrorists will be crushed and completely defeated in Syria.
