The day after the chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, I wrote a post titled “Surprise! Russia is lying about Syrian chemical weapon attack.” My reaction at the time was mostly based on Russia’s previous behavior, i.e. lying about an airstrike on a relief convoy last year, lying about its involvement in Ukraine, etc. That coupled with the fact that Syria had used chemical weapons several times previous to the attack this month led me to believe Russia was once again lying to protect the Assad regime.
Later, we learned that the U.S. military had information showing the jets used in the chemical attack had been launched from the Al Shayrat airfield in Syria, an airbase where Syrians and Russians were working together. That information was what led the Trump administration to a) bomb the airfield with Tomahawk missiles and b) accuse Russia of having knowledge of the chemical attack.
Today the New York Times published a video which goes into detail about what Syria and Russia claimed happened during the attack compared to what satellite photos and video of the area show. What they found: Russia (and Syria) lied about the attack. This clip is about 7 minutes long but it’s worth watching if you have any remaining doubts about what happened in Khan Sheikhoun.
And if you still have some doubt, yesterday France announced further evidence that the sarin used in the attack was identical to the mixture used previously by the Syrian military. From CNN:
The French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that samples taken from the attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun matched those from a previous incident.
“We have definite sources that the procedure used to make the Sarin sampled is typical of the methods developed in Syrian laboratories,” he said. “This method bears the signature of the regime, and that is what has allowed us to establish its responsibility in this attack.”
Maybe you never had any doubt that Syria and Russia were lying about responsibility for this attack, but for those who did, this should go a long way to clearing it up.
Poster Comment:
Looks like they are offering decent evidence here. Russia and Syria were calling for a full agency investigation which was agreed to a few days ago.
