The Assad forces dropped chemical weapons on civilians in Aleppo in Syria yesterday. Aleppo is the site of a major battle between the Assad forces and the non-ISIS rebels in Syria. Here's how the news was reported by YNET:
Syria Civil Defense, a Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory, told Reuters it had recorded three deaths and 22 injuries after a barrel containing a gas suspected of being chlorine fell on the Zubdiya neighborhood of rebel-held Aleppo.
The group, which describes itself as a neutral band of search and rescue volunteers, said it could not independently verify the nature of the gas.
This is a war crime by Assad, but there have been so many, that the world has lost count. It is also, however, a major problem for both president Obama and Hillary Clinton. Remember, while Clinton was secretary of state, Obama announced that US policy was that use of chemical weapons by Assad would cross a "red line." Assad then went on to use such weapons repeatedly. Obama threatened action, but did nothing. Instead, he had Russia work out an agreement under which Assad was supposed to give up his chemical weapons. The agreement, however, did not include chlorine gas as a chemical weapon. That was a strange omission since chlorine was one of the two main chemical weapons used in World War I that led to world community to outlaw the use of poison gas weapons. Now Assad is back to using chlorine gas against the rebels. The attack in Aleppo is just the latest example of this; there have been many others. Obama has ignored this crossing of his red line yet again.
Someone in the media had better ask both Obama and Clinton what they think of this latest war crime by Assad. Is it still American policy that chemical weapons cross a red line? Are we to just sit by and watch Assad use banned weapons to slaughter thousands of civilians? The country deserves to know if we even have a policy on the subject. We also should hear from Hillary Clinton how she wants to deal with this mess and if she agrees with Obama's non-policy.
Syria Civil Defense, a Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory, told Reuters it had recorded three deaths and 22 injuries after a barrel containing a gas suspected of being chlorine fell on the Zubdiya neighborhood of rebel-held Aleppo.
The group, which describes itself as a neutral band of search and rescue volunteers, said it could not independently verify the nature of the gas.
This is a war crime by Assad, but there have been so many, that the world has lost count. It is also, however, a major problem for both president Obama and Hillary Clinton. Remember, while Clinton was secretary of state, Obama announced that US policy was that use of chemical weapons by Assad would cross a "red line." Assad then went on to use such weapons repeatedly. Obama threatened action, but did nothing. Instead, he had Russia work out an agreement under which Assad was supposed to give up his chemical weapons. The agreement, however, did not include chlorine gas as a chemical weapon. That was a strange omission since chlorine was one of the two main chemical weapons used in World War I that led to world community to outlaw the use of poison gas weapons. Now Assad is back to using chlorine gas against the rebels. The attack in Aleppo is just the latest example of this; there have been many others. Obama has ignored this crossing of his red line yet again.
Someone in the media had better ask both Obama and Clinton what they think of this latest war crime by Assad. Is it still American policy that chemical weapons cross a red line? Are we to just sit by and watch Assad use banned weapons to slaughter thousands of civilians? The country deserves to know if we even have a policy on the subject. We also should hear from Hillary Clinton how she wants to deal with this mess and if she agrees with Obama's non-policy.
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