Title: State Department: US 'has its own mechanisms' to investigate Bashar Assad Source:
Washington Examiner URL Source:https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ ... ms-to-investigate-bashar-assad Published:Apr 10, 2018 Author:Joel Gehrke Post Date:2018-04-11 02:46:28 by A Pole Keywords:Syria, Russia, war Views:579 Comments:2
President Trump might not feel obliged to await the results of an international investigation into the latest chemical weapons attack in Syria to decide if an attack on President Bashar Assad’s regime should face a retaliatory strike, the State Department said Tuesday.
“The United States government has its own mechanisms to be able to look into things,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. ...
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“A chemical was used, we're just not sure — at this point, today — exactly what was used,” Nauert said. ...
International monitors with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have announced plans to go to Douma, the scene of the latest incident. Assad’s government is tasked with “mak[ing] the necessary arrangements” for the trip, per the OPCW, while Russia has offered to guarantee the security of the monitors.
Trump’s administration, along with Western allies, have signaled a willingness to carry out a retaliatory strike against Assad quite apart from the results of the OPCW probe.
“We know that only certain players, to use your word, have access to these kinds of chemical weapons,” Nauert said Tuesday in response to a reporter’s question. ...
