JERUSALEM — Israel's accusation that Syria used chemical weapons against rebels raises the prospect that Damascus crossed what President Obama has termed a "red line," but appears unlikely to overcome deep resistance of the U.S. and its allies to military involvement in the country's civil war.
Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, Israel's top military intelligence analyst, said at a security conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that Syria used chemical weapons, probably a sarin-based nerve agent, in attacks March 19 near Aleppo and Damascus. He said the assessment was based on reports of victims foaming at the mouth and having constricted pupils.
The disclosure followed similar assessments last week by Britain and France, which asked the United Nations to investigate.
U.S. officials say they are evaluating the reports that the beleaguered Syrian government unleashed its stockpile of chemical weapons, by some estimates the third-largest in the world. Privately, U.S. officials say they remain unconvinced by the assessments of three close allies — even that of Israel, whose regional intelligence-gathering has long been crucial to the United States.
Britain and France "did not provide conclusive evidence of chemical weapons use" in their request to the U.N., said a senior Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The Israeli military official criticized the international community for failing to respond to the Syrian attacks. "To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical warfare on a number of occasions during recent months," Brun said. "The very fact that they have used chemical weapons without any appropriate reaction is a very worrying development, because it might signal that this is legitimate."
Los Angeles Times
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