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| Israel Says Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons | Israel Says Syria Has Used Chemical Weapons |
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| TEL AVIV — Israel’s senior military intelligence analyst said on Tuesday that the Syrian government had repeatedly used chemical weapons, and he criticized the international community as failing to respond appropriately. | |
| The statements by Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, commander of the research division in the intelligence directorate of the Israeli Defense Forces, are the most definitive by an Israeli official to date regarding evidence of chemical weapons attacks on March 19 near the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the city of Aleppo. They are likely to put pressure on the Obama administration to act on the matter even as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel wraps up a three-day visit to Israel, during which he said the intelligence about chemical weapons use remained inconclusive. | |
| The finding has potentially broad-reaching implications for American intervention in the Syrian civil war, which has entered its third year. President Obama has described the movement of chemical weapons as a “red line for us” that could provoke American military intervention, and last month in Israel he said proof of their use would be a “game changer.” | The finding has potentially broad-reaching implications for American intervention in the Syrian civil war, which has entered its third year. President Obama has described the movement of chemical weapons as a “red line for us” that could provoke American military intervention, and last month in Israel he said proof of their use would be a “game changer.” |
| But Washington has since been tentative in its assessment of the March 19 episode even as its allies sound the alarm. | |
| General Brun’s comments came after the British and French governments, in a confidential letter sent last week to the United Nations secretary general, said they had evidence Syria used chemical agents around Aleppo, Homs and perhaps Damascus. | |
| Speaking about Syria at a conference of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies here, General Brun said “it is quite clear that they used harmful chemical weapons,” citing “different signs” including pictures of victims “foaming at the mouth.” He went beyond the March 19 attack to speak of “continuous” use of such weapons. | Speaking about Syria at a conference of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies here, General Brun said “it is quite clear that they used harmful chemical weapons,” citing “different signs” including pictures of victims “foaming at the mouth.” He went beyond the March 19 attack to speak of “continuous” use of such weapons. |
| “The regime has increasingly used chemical weapons,” General Brun said, describing a “huge arsenal” of more than 1,000 tons of substances stockpiled in Syria. “The very fact that they have used chemical weapons without any appropriate reaction — this is a very worrying development because it might signal that this is legitimate.” | |
| General Brun said the evidence suggested the weapon used was sarin gas, the same deadly compound that killed 13 people in a domestic terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. The number of victims in Syria is unclear. General Brun also said a second agent, a retardant of some kind, had been deployed. | General Brun said the evidence suggested the weapon used was sarin gas, the same deadly compound that killed 13 people in a domestic terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. The number of victims in Syria is unclear. General Brun also said a second agent, a retardant of some kind, had been deployed. |
| Though the Assad regime had claimed last month that it was the rebels who used chemicals, General Brun echoed previous statements by Israeli and American officials that it was clearly the Syrian government, and not the opposition, that had conducted the attacks. | Though the Assad regime had claimed last month that it was the rebels who used chemicals, General Brun echoed previous statements by Israeli and American officials that it was clearly the Syrian government, and not the opposition, that had conducted the attacks. |
| In recent months, according to Israeli intelligence reports, the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad has been moving weapons, consolidating its stockpiles into perhaps 17 or 18 sites. | In recent months, according to Israeli intelligence reports, the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad has been moving weapons, consolidating its stockpiles into perhaps 17 or 18 sites. |
| If American officials have been more reluctant than their allies to come to firm conclusions, it may be because it would force Mr. Obama’s hand. In August, the president told reporters that any evidence that Mr. Assad was moving the weapons or making use of them could prompt the United States to act. | |
| “That would change my calculus,” he said. “That would change my equation.” | “That would change my calculus,” he said. “That would change my equation.” |
| But when strong evidence emerged earlier this year that Mr. Assad’s forces were in fact moving their weapons — at least from one depot to another — the White House insisted that the action did not cross the line that Mr. Obama set. By “move” the weapons, a White House spokesman said, Mr. Obama meant transferring them to a terror group, like Hezbollah. He said there was no evidence of that. | |
| Nonetheless, according to two American officials, Washington sent messages to Mr. Assad that the threat had to be taken seriously. “We saw a reaction,” one official said. Protection of the sites was improved. Still, American officials believe Mr. Assad would use chemical weapons as a last resort to stay in power. | |
| While the United States has drawn up plans to seize control of the weapons if need be — by parachuting in troops to the key sites — American officials have made it clear that they would prefer that regional forces take the lead. But if the weapons were actually used, as three American allies now contend, it would be far more difficult for Mr. Obama to argue that his “red line” has not been crossed. | |
| Israel’s primary concern is that the chemicals could be seized by Hezbollah or other terrorist groups now operating within Syria. In January, the Israeli Air Force attacked a convoy of sophisticated antiaircraft weapons it feared was about to be transferred to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The attack also damaged a research complex near Damascus believed to be a training site for engineers developing chemical and biological systems. | |
| “We have to be very bothered by the possibility that chemical weapons are going to get into the hands of less responsible actors, because they don’t manage calculations based on profit and loss that you can manage,” General Brun warned at Tuesday’s conference. “There is the risk of chemical weapons crossing the border. It is certainly possible that there will be other incidents of attack against Israel by other organizations that obtain diff types of weapons.” | “We have to be very bothered by the possibility that chemical weapons are going to get into the hands of less responsible actors, because they don’t manage calculations based on profit and loss that you can manage,” General Brun warned at Tuesday’s conference. “There is the risk of chemical weapons crossing the border. It is certainly possible that there will be other incidents of attack against Israel by other organizations that obtain diff types of weapons.” |