Syria Chemical Weapons Threat

Note first this excellent on the ground video report at Russia Today, "Syria warns will use chemical weapons in case of foreign attack." I say excellent, all but the last minute or so when RT's anchor went to radio show host and 9/11 truther Kevin Barrett, who argued that Syrian WMDs are being hyped by the West to justify invasion, allegedly just like the U.S. did in 2003 with the Iraq war. William Jacobson reported on that yesterday, "Syria threatens to use WMD which are figment of neocons’ imagination."

That said, there is some controversy on the nature of the threat, but given Syria's border with Iraq, and Iran's funding of terrorist groups in Lebanon and elsewhere, the absence of threat is not a foregone conclusion by any means. Here's Telegraph UK, "Syria raises prospect of using chemical weapons arsenal":

Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime, fighting for its life, has shocked the west by threatening to use its arsenal of chemical weapons if outside forces intervened in its civil war.

And at the New York Times, "Syria Threatens Chemical Attack on Foreign Force":

Lebanon — Syrian officials warned Monday that they would deploy chemical weapons against any foreign intervention, a threat that appeared intended to ward off an attack by Western nations while also offering what officials in Washington called the most “direct confirmation” ever that Syria possesses a stockpile of unconventional armaments.

The warning came out of Damascus, veiled behind an assurance that the Syrian leadership would never use such weapons against its own citizens, describing chemical arms as outside the bounds of the kind of guerrilla warfare being fought internally.

“Any stock of W.M.D. or unconventional weapons that the Syrian Army possesses will never, never be used against the Syrian people or civilians during this crisis, under any circumstances,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, said at a news conference shown live on Syrian state television, using the initials for weapons of mass destruction. “These weapons are made to be used strictly and only in the event of external aggression against the Syrian Arab Republic.”

Mr. Makdissi said that any such weapons were carefully monitored by the Syrian Army, and that ultimately their use would be decided by generals.

Though it has for many years been an open secret that Syria possessed a large cache of such weapons, the government has traditionally tried to retain some strategic ambiguity to keep its enemies guessing. Then on Monday, after Mr. Makdissi appeared to confirm that reality, the government quickly retreated to its familiar position, saying its remarks were misinterpreted.

Asked whether Syria was finally acknowledging that it had chemical weapons, Mr. Makdissi repeated roughly the same response, but began it by saying that any stock of unconventional weapons or chemical weapons “if they exist” would not be used domestically, but would be used against foreign intervention.

But the attempt at verbal sleight of hand did little to conceal what appeared to be Syria’s intent, experts and Western diplomats said.

Now, though, Syria is backtracking a bit. See CSM, "Chemical weapons? Syria 'backpedaling furiously' over weapons threats."

BONUS: At Jerusalem Post, "Russia warns Syria against using chemical weapons."