Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack

Exclusive: U.N. Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack

Posted By Colum Lynch Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 8:41 PM

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/09/11/un_report_will_finger_assad_for_massive_chemical_attack#.UjEOmayaTH8

U.N. inspectors have collected a "wealth" of evidence on the use of nerve agents that points to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons against his own people, according to a senior Western official.

The inspection team, which is expected on Monday to present U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon with a highly anticipated report on a suspected Aug. 21 nerve agent attack in the suburbs of Damascus, will not directly accuse the Syrian regime of gassing its own people, according to three U.N.-based diplomats familiar with the investigation. But it will provide a strong circumstantial case -- based on an examination of spent rocket casings, ammunition, and laboratory tests of soil, blood, and urine samples -- that points strongly in the direction of Syrian government culpability.

"I know they have gotten very rich samples -- biomedical and environmental -- and they have interviewed victims, doctors and nurses," said the Western official. "It seems they are very happy with the wealth of evidence they got." The official, who declined to speak on the record because of the secrecy surrounding the U.N. investigation, could not identify the specific agents detected by the inspector team, but said, "You can conclude from the type of evidence the [identity of the] author."

The U.N. team, which is led by the Swedish scientist Ake Sellström, traveled to Damascus last month to begin an investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons. During that trip, according to the United States and other Western powers, Syrian forces launched a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 people in the al Ghouta suburb of Damascus.

A montage of video clips posted by Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on her Twitter page depicted horrific scenes of purported victims writhing in agony, and gasping for breath. Rows of dead children, their faces blue from apparent suffocation, were lined up in morbid rows, white sheets covering their tiny bodies.

Ban Ki-Moon

Ban Ki-Moon is the secretary general for the United Nations, and an honorary chair for the International Peace Institute.

Note: Rita E. Hauser is a director at the International Peace Institute, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a director at the New America Foundation.

Mortimer B. Zuckerman is a director at the International Peace Institute, a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), and was a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Madeleine K. Albright is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a friend of Susan E. Rice, James P. Rubin was her senior adviser, and the United Nations U.S. ambassador.

James P. Rubin was Madeleine K. Albright’s senior adviser, and is a director at the International Peace Institute.

Lois Dickson Fitt is a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), Susan E. Rice’s mother, and was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Susan E. Rice is a friend of Madeleine K. Albright, Lois Dickson Fitt’s daughter, the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the United Nations U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), the Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a board member for the International Crisis Group, was a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch, and a benefactor for the NPR.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the New America Foundation, the Urban Institute (think tank), the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Brookings Institution (think tank), the International Rescue Committee, the Human Rights Watch, the NPR, and Amnesty International.

Thomas R. Pickering is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the co-chair for the International Crisis Group, was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the U.S. ambassador for Israel.

Martin S. Indyk was the VP & director of the Foreign Policy Program for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the U.S. ambassador for Israel.

Cass R. Sunstein is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to Samantha Power.

Samantha Power was a director at the International Rescue Committee, a board member for the International Crisis Group, Barack Obama’s aide, and is the United Nations U.S. ambassador for the Barack Obama administration.

Syrian Electronic Army reportedly hacked the Human Rights Watch, the NPR, and Amnesty International.

Bashar al-Assad is supporting the Syrian Electronic Army hacker group, and is the president of Syria.