OPCW Nobel Peace Prize acceptance

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_10/Head-of-chemical-weapons-watchdog-accepts-Nobel-Peace-Prize-8726/

I read numerous articles prior to posting this one. The new articles stating the Obama administration and the UN or US Intelligence knew about the bombings or weapons before the actual attacks does not surprise me. I'm quite sure our government and political protectors know of plenty of cases that could unfold. The tricky thing about sharing or making moves before any action is knowing a bluff from a true intention. I'm sure that if any agency could stop war and attacks they would but that would require fighting and threatening different people and countries daily, which they probably already do. Logically, these attacks were going to happen regardless if the Obama administration had inside information about an extremist group possessing weapons or not. Touching base with the article I posted, the Head of chemical weapons in the OPCW Director General Ahmet Uzumcu is proud to have 190 members of states joining the global ban. I believe this is a positive and necessary organization. The opposing side in my view is that this organization is a lot like treating the symptoms to an illness instead of truly trying to cure the aliment. If the UN were a stronger more productive global force maybe we wouldn't necessarily need to rely so much on the OPCW to clean up and commit to the outcomes of chemical disposals.

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_10/Head-of-chemical-weapons-watchdog-accepts-Nobel-Peace-Prize-8726/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/347410558726055895/


I thought I would share this additional blog post. When this assignment first started I found this picture on Pinterest. I did not post it because I did not understand the whole problem of the chemical attack so I could not analyze this picture. Now that we have all completed this assignment I thought I would share to hear other peoples thoughts. Pinterest is known to share compelling picture from all over the world. Yet this picture shows a different message than what we are learning. Since this pin came from a "normal Pinner" not connected to a news site obviously it is not a good news source. It shows you that you can never take what you are as true until further research. Clearly the "free world" is not just sitting back and watching them die. Throughout our research we have heard of a lot of "free world" countries including our own helping with this issue.

Syrian Chemical Disarmament Deadlines Could Be Missed

Experts from the OPCW, including the organizations director-general Ahmet Uzumcu, say the December 31^st destruction deadline will most likely be missed. He cites the complications of getting the chemicals out of a country safely in the midst of a civil war as the primary reason for the probable delays. I agree with his assessment; the December deadline seems too ambitious, especially considering the logistics of having to collect all the chemicals from the storage sites, and then transport them through battlegrounds, praying that nothing goes awry along the way. Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, requested international aid to acquire armored vehicles and proper transportation materials, but international leaders are wary of giving the Assad regime equipment that could be used to suppress rebel forces. I believe the destruction process is too far along, and the Assad regime is too firmly entrenched under the international microscope, that any further use of its chemical weapons or abuse of international aid would be near impossible. However, the concerns are legitimate and in my opinion the process may have to wait until the war has calmed, or proper aid is provided; only problem is that leaves the chemicals vulnerable and could take far longer than many are willing to wait.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303560204579248092358920978

US Knew Syrian Rebels Could Carry Out Chemical Attack?

This article states that the United States knew Syrian Rebels could cause a chemical attack before the attack on August 21st, 2013. Writes Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. He received this prize through his investigations during the Iraq and Vietnam wars. He says that months before the American Intelligence agencies knew that al-Qeada had mastered the creation of sarin and could manufacture it in high amounts. The chemical attack took place on the same day UN inspectors arrived in Damascus to investigate allegations of use of chemical weapons. The idea of the U.S. knowing the possibility of the creation of chemical weapons in Syria was denied by the Director of National Intelligence, Shawn Turner. We can not be positive if all of this is true, but if it is the United States could have saved any lives. 

http://inserbia.info/news/2013/12/us-knew-syrian-rebels-could-carry-out-chemical-attack/

Obama lied about Syrian chemical attack, ‘cherry-picked’ intelligence: report

In this recent article a pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Seymour Hersh, claims Barrack Obama knew of Syria rebels ability to launch a chemical attack. This causes much controvesy because in the week safter the attack the Obama Administration focused their attention on blaming President Bashar Assad. it states that the Administration had kept secret the fact that U.S. spy agencies found that Assad did not have access to sarin. If Assad did not have access to sarin, than there is no way he could have fueled this attack. According to Hersh, the American intelligence agencies created a series of reports that cited evidence that the al-Nursa Front, a jihadi group linked to al Qaeda mastered a way in which to use sarin to attack. After this finding they were placed on the foreign terroristorganization list, yet after the attack thye were never brought up as a suspect when clearl they should have. Obama Administration apparently left this out in order to build a case against Assad. If this claim is true, then this would back Russia’s orginal claims that it was the rebels behind the attack and not the Presidents. The question is why Obama choose to hide this information and decide he wanted to build a case against Assad and then back down and agree upon a compromise? I feel more needs to be looked into this and Obama and his Administration need to come out and speak on their behalf. Overall, it was an interesting article to read and again provides a different side to the story and shows how each side is hiding this and leaving information out to benefit themselves.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/9/obama-lied-about-syrian-chemical-attack-cherry-pic/

OPCW warns of delay in moving Syria chemical weapons

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/opcw-warns-of-delay-in-moving-syria-chemical-weapons_895353.html

This article is more or less a notification from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that there may be a delay in moving Syria’s chemical weapons. The OPCW developed a roadmap with a deadline of December 31^st as the date in which all “priority” weapons will be removed from Syria, but OPCW director Ahmet Uzumcu says this might not happen due to “technical issues”. Although there may be a delay, he says that he is confident that the OPCW will meet the June 2014 deadline, which is the time when all chemical weapons in Syria will be destroyed. The article highlights that 1,290 tons of chemical weapons material are to be destroyed by the latter deadline.

I think that this article is important, especially in the light of the article posted to this blog a few days ago (Syria Chemical Weapons Facilities “Destroyed”) which stressed that we do not know what “destroyed” actually means. This lack of clarification, coupled with this new article saying that the OPCW is having technical difficulties seems to be pointing to the fact that things are not going as smoothly as originally hoped. It also seems as though the OPCW is quick to update the public when things are going right, like the facilities being destroyed, yet brush off delays by reassuring that they will still meet the final deadline. This article also mentions that the Norwegian Nobel committee honored the OPCW as the 2013 peace laureate for their “role in dismantling chemical weapons”, so it does make sense for them to want to keep their public image as high as possible. 

Growing suffering of Syria's besieged civilians

In this BBC article titled "Growing suffering of Syria's besieged civilians" gives an overview to the Syrian civilians living in the rebel areas and the troubles they face. This is happening due to the Syrian government taking siege in the rebel areas of Damascus and Homs. Millions are trapped and starvation is taking place around the area. The article says that electricity has been cut and no food, medicine or gas can enter the town in these areas.  As one Syrian army officer told the BBC: "They either surrender or starve." So far they are not surrendering.I feel that this is a great article to show how the civilians of Damascus are struggling to cope with the ongoing conflicts around the area. Not only is this a political and military struggle but also the many citizens of Syria. Many of the weapons and facilities are still gone but peace for the people is still far away. It's is a good article to raise awareness of how the ongoing conflicts in Syria affects their people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25240296