Syria a Chemical Weapon "Powder Keg Ready to Explode," Experts Fear

(National Post-Canada) Peter Goodspeed - Syria has been stockpiling chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction since the late 1970s and is widely believed to possess one of the world's largest inventories of mustard blister agent, sarin nerve gas and possibly VX nerve agent. "The situation in Syria is unprecedented," said Charles Blair of the Federation of American Scientists. "Never before has a WMD-armed country fallen into civil war." U.S. officials are reported to be making plans with regional allies to develop a strategy to secure the weapon stockpiles in an emergency. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported U.S. and Jordanian officials are developing plans for Jordan's special operations forces, acting as part of a larger Arab League peacekeeping mission, to go into Syria to secure more than a dozen weapons sites.


2012-03-15 00:00:00

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