Obama Claims Chlorine "Historically Has Not Been Listed as a Chemical Weapon": Liar!

Attempting to explain why the US has not responded to the use of chlorine by the Assad regime against Syrian civilians, President Obama declared yesterday at Camp David:

"[W]e have seen reports about the use of chlorine in bombs that had the effect of chemical weapons. Chlorine itself historically has not been listed as a chemical weapon, but when it is used in this fashion, can be considered a prohibited use of that particular chemical. And so we’re working with the international community to investigate that and, in fact, if we have the kinds of confirmation that we need, we will, once again, work with the international community and the organization charged with monitoring compliance by the Syrian government, and we will reach out to patrons of Assad, like Russia, to put a stop to it."

Chlorine "historically has not been listed as a chemical weapon"? Oh really? On April 22, 1915, the Germans released 168 tons of chlorine gas against French troops at Ypres, killing and wounding some 5,000 soldiers and punching a massive hole in the French line. Two days later, the Germans attacked Canadian troops northeast of Ypres with chlorine gas, killing and wounding another 6,000 soldiers.

Chlorine gas becomes hydrochloric acid in the lungs and can certainly be fatal.

Nice try, Mr. President.

Will Obama Save Assad?

In a Washington Post article entitled "Assad’s hold on power looks shakier than ever as rebels advance in Syria," Liz Sly writes:

"A surge of rebel gains in Syria is overturning long-held assumptions about the durability of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which now appears in greater peril than at any time in the past three years.

. . . .

The revival of rebel fortunes is attributed to a large degree on the recent rapprochement between a newly assertive Saudi Arabia and its erstwhile rivals for influence over the rebels — Turkey and Qatar.

. . . .

Much will depend on Iran, which has stepped up in the past to dispatch men, money and arms whenever Assad seemed to be faltering. But Iran is stretched, too, by the economic effects of continued international sanctions and by the competing demands of the war next door in Iraq, which has diverted some of the Iraqi Shiite militias that had been fighting for the regime in Syria."

Indeed, much will depend upon Iran, whose finances are stretched by sanctions and the decline in the price of oil. As such, Assad's survival hinges upon whether or not Obama frees up some $50 billion of frozen Iranian bank accounts as a signing bonus to Khamenei for reaching a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 by the June 30 deadline.

Once Obama declared that use of chemical weapons by Assad was a "red line." Today, it seems increasing likely that Obama will become Assad's savior, notwithstanding Assad's past use of sarin and ongoing use of chlorine against civilians.

Fareed Zakaria, "Israel’s threat from within": Killing Israel Softly?

Do you recall Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei's November 8, 2014  tweet calling for the "annihilation" of Israel:

"This barbaric, wolflike & infanticidal regime of #Israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated."

Well, in a Washington Post opinion piece entitled "Israel’s threat from within," Obama acolyte Fareed Zakaria would have us know that Iran seeks to destroy Israel, but not by means of war. Zakaria writes:

"Let me be clear. Iran’s supreme leader is a radical, anti-Western ideologue whose Twitter feed is filled with hate and hostility — and he means Israel only harm. But he is also a canny politician who has survived and thrived in Iran’s complex political system. What is the message he is sending?

Khamenei speaks often about the destruction of Israel. But he rejects doing so by means of a war. 'We recommend neither a classical war by the army of Muslim countries nor to throw migrated Jews at sea.' (It’s good to know that he is against drowning Jews en masse!) Akbar Ganji, Iran’s best-known dissident, who was jailed for criticizing Khamenei, argues that the supreme leader has been consistent in this position for years — no war, certainly not by Iran."

"No war, certainly not by Iran"? Fascinating. Consider how Hassan Nasrallah, who heads Hezbollah, Iran's proxy in Lebanon, declared in 2002: "If they [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide." Okay, that statement was made more than a decade ago, but in the meantime, Iran has supplied Hezbollah with some 70,000 missiles, some of which are capable of striking the entirety of Israel.

Consider also how, two months ago, Iranian Revolutionary Guards General Mohammad Ali Allah-Dadi, accompanied by senior Hezbollah operatives, was killed by an Israeli strike while on a "reconnaissance" tour in the Golan Heights opposite the Israeli border. The Iranian general wasn't there on a mission to pick wild flowers.

Turning to Gaza, the covenant of Hamas, which is armed by Iran, calls for the murder of all Jews, not just Israelis. As reported in an August 5, 2014 International Business Times article entitled "Gaza Strip Crisis: Iran Admits Supplying Missile Technology to Hamas" by Vasudevan Sridharan:

"A top Iranian military official has admitted that Tehran supplied military technology to the Palestine-based militant group Hamas in its battle against Israel.

'Palestinian resistance missiles are the blessings of Iran's transfer of technology. We need to transfer defensive and military technology to Palestinians so that they can build weapons under the blockade and defend themselves,' Mohsen Rezaei, a senior official at the Expediency Discernment Council, told the state-run Arabic channel Al-Alam."

Iran plans to "annihilate" Israel by peaceful means? Only Barack Obama could possibly believe Zakaria's rubbish.

* * * *

In other news, we now know that US Secretary of State is "deeply disturbed" by reports that Assad attacked the Syrian town of Sarmin with chlorine. Kerry declared, "While we cannot yet confirm details, if true, this would be only the latest tragic example of the Assad regime's atrocities against the Syrian people, which the entire international community must condemn."

Ah yes, the international community, including Khamenei and Putin, should "condemn" the attack. That should send shudders up Assad's spine.

But whereas Kerry is "disturbed" by this latest use of chemical weapons by Assad, Obama plans to punish Netanyahu for emerging victorious in Israel's parliamentary elections by withholding support for Israel at the UN.

Go figure.