chemical weapons

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Obama: Chemical Weapons a 'Red Line' in Syria

He also defends tax return attacks on Romney as 'standard stuff'

(Newser) - President Obama gave perhaps the strongest indication yet today that the US is prepared to use military force in Syria. In a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room, Obama said he has not ordered military action "at this point," but that he hadn't ruled it...

Israel Issues Gas Masks Near Syrian Border

Will act instantly if chemical weapons fall into Hezbollah hands

(Newser) - Worried Israeli officials are beginning to distribute new gas masks to residents living close to the Syrian border. The equipment is the starkest sign that concern is escalating that Syria could soon tap its stockpile of chemical weapons as the regime grows desperate. Syria is known to have the largest...

Syria Moved Chemical Weapons to Airports: Rebels

And allegedly guns down prisoners in jail sit-in

(Newser) - The Free Syrian Army believes that the Assad regime has moved chemical weapons to airports near the country's borders, in what the rebels say is a bid to put "pressure on the region and the international community," according to the Telegraph . The regime yesterday threatened to use...

Syria: Here's When We'd Use Chemical Weapons

Not against rebels, but possibly against 'external aggression': official

(Newser) - Despite recent reports that Syria may be preparing to use its chemical weapons, a foreign ministry spokesperson today tried to assure the world that they will not be used on the Syrian people—officially acknowledging for the first time that the country actually has such weapons, reports Reuters . "Any...

US Prepares for Assad&rsquo;s Fall
 US Prepares for Assad’s Fall 
Jul 19, 2012 7:51 AM CDT

US Prepares for Assad’s Fall

Panetta: Syria 'spinning out of control'

(Newser) - Describing the suicide blast that killed Bashar al-Assad's security chiefs yesterday as a turning point, American officials are now getting ready for the Syrian regime's collapse, reports the New York Times . Pentagon officials have urged the Israelis not to attack Syrian weapons facilities, fearing that such a move...

Assad Willing to Use Chemical Weapons
 Assad Willing to Use 
 Chemical Weapons 
defector speaks
Jul 17, 2012 7:48 AM CDT

Assad Willing to Use Chemical Weapons

Indeed, defector Nawaf Fares thinks he may have already

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad is a "wounded wolf and cornered," and hence is ready, and probably willing, to use his stash of chemical weapons , according to Nawaf Fares, Syria's ex-ambassador to Iraq and its highest-level official to defect so far. "There is information, unconfirmed information of course, that...

US: Syria Mobilizing Chemical Weapons

It's unclear why, but intelligence says part of its stockpile is on the move

(Newser) - Syria is pulling many of its chemical weapons out of storage facilities, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, US officials tell the Wall Street Journal . Some believe Assad is simply moving the weapons to a safer location, or attempting to spook rebel-friendly Sunnis. But others believe he intends to...

Snag to Syria Intervention: Assad's Chemical Weapons

US, Jordan working on plans to secure them: Wall Street Journal

(Newser) - As the world community considers what to do about Syria, one serious complication keeps coming up: Bashar al-Assad's huge stockpile of chemical and biological weapons. In fact, the US and Jordan militaries have begun working together on a plan to secure the dozen or so sites where they are...

US Fears Iran Helping Libya With Chemical Weapons

Iran says US is just hating

(Newser) - The discovery of artillery shells filled with deadly mustard gas discovered at two locations in Libya has US intelligence agents scrambling to uncover where the nation obtained those shells. The leading candidate? Iran, reports the Washington Post . “We are pretty sure we know," said a senior US official....

Gadhafi Giving Out Chemical Weapons Suits, Gas Masks

Sparks renewed fears he'll use mustard gas

(Newser) - As Moammar Gadhafi appears to be entering his endgame, fears are increasing that the Libyan strongman might use chemical weapons against his own people. The Pentagon and other officials say Gadhafi’s remaining mustard gas, more than 11 tons, has been secured. But Libyan rebels are concerned because gas masks...

Fears Rise Over Syria's Huge Chemical Arsenal

It's said to be biggest stockpile in world

(Newser) - As unrest continues in Syria, concerns are rising over Syria’s chemical arsenal: The weapons it contains are among the world’s most dangerous, and they’re easy to transport, the Washington Post reports. Syria holds quantities of sarin, a deadly nerve agent that can be released into the air...

Roman Soldiers Likely Hit by Chemical Weapon

 Roman Soldiers 
 Likely Hit by 
 Chemical 
 Weapon 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 13, 2011 10:52 AM CDT

Roman Soldiers Likely Hit by Chemical Weapon

Archaeologists discover secrets in ancient bones

(Newser) - When archaeologists first found the bones of the 19 ancient Roman soldiers and one Persian buried under the ancient Syrian city of Dura-Europos in the 1930s, they assumed they’d died in some kind of fierce underground melee—when the Persians attacked the city, they’d dug tunnels under the...

'Chemical Ali' Gets a Fourth Death Sentence

Saddam's notorious cousin sentenced for Halabja attack that killed 5600

(Newser) - Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" was convicted today of crimes against humanity, receiving a fourth death sentence for his involvement in one of the worst poison gas attacks ever against civilians. Families of victims cheered when the judge handed down the guilty verdict against Ali Hassan al-Majid in...

Right Groups Cite Evidence of Israeli Phosphorus Use

UN workers say incendiary weapon used to attack Gaza compound

(Newser) - Witness accounts are adding weight to accusations by human rights groups that Israel is violating international law by using white phosphorus as a weapon against civilians, the Guardian reports. Palestinians say the incendiary shells were used to set their homes on fire and doctors report treating patients with injuries clearly...

An Insect Bioterror Strike? Sounds Overblown
An Insect Bioterror Strike?
Sounds Overblown
opinion
Jan 5, 2009 8:49 PM CST

An Insect Bioterror Strike? Sounds Overblown

(Newser) - Sure, bug swarms can spread nasty things, but using them to unleash bioterror isn't as easy as they say, Robert Roy Britt writes in LiveScience. One expert said in the Telegraph today that dispersing insects as weapons is "relatively easy"—but consider that terrorists would have to team...

Israel Likely Using Shells That Burn Skin

Controversial tool to disguise troops causes horrific damage

(Newser) - As Israeli soldiers approached the limits of Gaza City, reports have suggested they are using controversial white phosphorus shells to cover their advance. Although the shells are not illegal if used as a smokescreen, they can cause severe burns among bystanders, says the Times of London. An international treaty says...

Saddam Faked Nukes to Scare Iran, Not US: Agent

Did not believe US would invade over weapons of mass destruction

(Newser) - Saddam Hussein revealed in FBI interrogations that he had no nuclear or biological weapons of mass destruction, but hid that fact to avoid invasion by Iran—and was stunned when the US invaded. "For him, it was critical that he was seen as the strong, defiant Saddam to prevent...

'Gay Bomb,' Sword Eating Win Ig-Nobels

Making enemies 'sexually irresistible to each other' lights anti-Nobels' fuse

(Newser) - The US military does some pretty cutting-edge research, but a hypothetical bomb that would make enemy troops make love to each other instead of war on the US? The proposal—along with detailed research on the effects of sword-swallowing, extracting vanilla from cowpies, and curing hamster jetlag with Viagra—yesterday...

Nerve Gas Found at UN Building
Nerve Gas Found at UN Building
Aug 30, 2007 12:46 PM CDT

Nerve Gas Found at UN Building

Building evacuated after vials of dangerous chemical turn up in office

(Newser) - Weapons inspectors cleaning out an office in a United Nations building near its Manhattan headquarters found six to eight vials of a nerve gas believed to have been recovered from Iraq in 1996, the AP reports. A UN spokeswoman said there was no immediate danger from the substance, identified as...

Terrorist Attacks Spiked in '06
Terrorist Attacks Spiked in '06
Apr 30, 2007 10:16 PM CDT

Terrorist Attacks Spiked in '06

Attacks rise 25% percent, driven by

(Newser) - Terrorist attacks rose 25 percent in 2006, with much of the rise attributable to Iraq, according to a State Department report released today. Terrorism claimed over 20,000 lives in 2006—two-thirds of those in Iraq—up sharply from 2005, raising doubts about the short-term success of the continued War...

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