Syria Superthread [merged]

[CougarKing]

Tar baby analogies aside, it seems the Israelis have joined the intervention bandwagon with their primary aim of keeping Iran and its Hezbollah proxies in check.

However, with a multi-faction war in full swing (Assad loyalists vs. moderate rebels vs. Gulf states/Saudi and Pakistani Taliban-backed Sunni/Islamist rebels vs. Iranian-backed Shiite rebels vs. Turkish-backed Kurds of the SYD) this is definitely a mess neither we nor any western nation should want to join in. Whether the interventionists who have Obama's ear do get their way and their coveted no-fly zone is another story however...


Defense News link

Israeli DM Urges US Action in Syria; Warns of 'Axis of Evil'

NEW YORK — Warning of protracted, destabilizing conflict in Syria, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon urged the visiting chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff to prevent Iran and its Lebanon-based Hezbollah proxies from prevailing on behalf of embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

In the most publicly direct appeal to date for US support of anti-Assad rebels, Ya’alon told Gen. Martin Dempsey, “It is forbidden to allow the axis of evil — Tehran-Damascus-Beirut — to win this conflict.”

According to a statement released after Ya’alon’s Aug. 13 meeting with the senior-ranking US military officer, the Israeli defense minister said the two countries must be prepared for “a long conflict” within Syria.

Ya’alon flagged Iran as the source of much of the region’s instability, insisting “the Iranian regime ... is involved in every conflict in this region.”

A day earlier, on an Aug. 12 tour of Israel’s northern border, Ya’alon said Assad still controls some 40 percent of the country. The bloodbath that has claimed more than 100,000 Syrian lives could continue indefinitely, the Israeli said.

Dempsey has repeatedly expressed concerns over the costs, benefits and risks associated with US military intervention on behalf of the loosely coordinated, disparate rebel groups battling to oust Assad and his Alawite minority rule of the country.

 

[MeanJean]

Here is the latest news on Syria.  It will be interesting to see how the global community reacts.

Syria attack renews chemical arms claim
UN Security Council holds emergency meeting
The Associated Press Posted: Aug 21, 2013 5:06 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 21, 2013 10:17 PM ET 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/08/21/syria-gas-attack-accusation-damascus.html

Syria attack renews chemical arms claim
UN Security Council holds emergency meeting
The Associated Press Posted: Aug 21, 2013 5:06 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 21, 2013 10:17 PM ET 


The images showed lifeless children — wrapped in simple white cloths, their pale faces unmarked by any wound — lined up shoulder to shoulder in a vivid demonstration of what activists say was an attack Wednesday by the Syrian regime that killed at least 130 people with toxic gas.

The Syrian government has adamantly denied using chemical weapons in an artillery barrage targeting suburbs east of Damascus, calling the allegations "absolutely baseless." The United States, Britain and France have demanded that a team of UN experts already in the country be granted immediate access to investigate the claims.

Syria’s civil war: key facts, important players
The UN Security Council held emergency consultations about the purported attack, and UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said the head of a UN team sent to Damascus to investigate earlier claims of chemical attacks was in talks with the Syrian government.

Videos and photographs showed row upon row of bodies wrapped in white shrouds lying on a tile floor, including more than a dozen children. There was little evidence of blood or conventional injuries and most appeared to have suffocated. Survivors of the purported attack, some twitching uncontrollably, lay on gurneys with oxygen masks covering their faces.

Activists and the opposition leadership gave widely varying death tolls, ranging from as low as 136 to as high as 1,300. But even the most conservative tally would make it the deadliest alleged chemical attack in Syria's civil war.

For months now, the rebels, along with the United States, Britain and France, have accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in its campaign to try to snuff out the rebellion against President Bashar Assad that began in March 2011. The regime and its ally, Russia, have denied the allegations, pinning the blame on the rebels.

The murky nature of the purported attacks, and the difficulty of gaining access to the sites amid the carnage of Syria's war, has made it impossible to verify the claims. After months of negotiations, a UN team finally arrived in Damascus on Sunday to begin its investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria. But the probe is limited to three sites and only seeks to determine whether chemical agents were used, not who unleashed them.

The timing of Wednesday's attack — four days after the UN team's arrival — raised questions about why the regime would use chemical agents now.



(There is more to read from the link to the article)

 

[tomahawk6]

Intervention on the ground in Syria isn't going to happen.

 

[Old Sweat]

The Russians have claimed that the Syrian rebels attacked their own people, a claim that cannot be confirmed or refuted at this time. As I type this, I am listening to Lew MacKenzie being interviewed on CFRA in which he suggest the same is possible. In that vein, here is an article that appeared on my internet provider's news site that raises the same issue. The article is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provision of the Copyright Act.

My post is purely for informative purposes and does not indicate my support or rejection of the position suggested.

The Truth About Poison Gas In Syria
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/john-ec-thompson/syria-chemical-weapons_b_3791987.html
Posted: 08/21/2013 4:46 pm

Did the Syrian government launch a nerve gas attack on the night of August 20, 2013, that killed 1,300 people? Yes, no, or maybe... choose your answer. But don't count on knowing if it's accurate.

First, no media report provided by either the Assad Government or the Syrian National Front should be accepted at face value, although -- perhaps -- the Assad government has more of a history of controlling media and less of one of providing fabricated material.

However, various local parties on both sides of the civil war have learned from the Palestinian Authority about the value of providing staged or fabricated media events. "Pallywood", as some reporters and journalists have described it, has a long history of providing exciting or emotional images that have no basis in reality.

Hezbollah moved things to a new level during its 2006 conflict with Israel, when it turned out that their own cameramen provided some images, and there were many carefully staged and choreographed media events. Some local stringers for media outlets even turned out to be members of Hezbollah.
Hamas tried the same strategy during Operation Cast Lead in 2008/09.

The civil war in Syria is undeniably vicious and there have been plenty of atrocities by both sides, but the allegations of poison gas use have been flying thick and fast.

Syria has been known to have been making its own chemical weapons since the 1980s, particularly blister agents (such as mustard gas) and nerve agents (such as sarin and VX). These, in the main, are "area denial" chemical weapons, and may have been developed with halting an Israeli armoured thrust in mind -- the IDF came perilously close to Damascus in the '73 war.

For gassing people hiding inside buildings and cellars, blister and nerve gases are inefficient; choking and blood agents such as phosgene and cyanogen are far more effective. Syria was not believed to have been manufacturing these prior to 2011.

Using chemical weapons on rebels is an old habit in the Middle East. Egypt used them on Yemeni Royalists in the 1960s, Saudi Arabia on Wahhabi militants in 1979, and both Saddam Hussein and Qaddafi used them in the 1980s. It is very hypocritical for the Arab League to be crying 'foul!' at the Assad regime.

For those with the stomach for it, it is not too hard to find footage on the internet of tests of nerve gas on animals... including al-Qaeda experiments on dogs in their Afghan training bases prior to 9/11. There are also a lot of photographs of victims of blister-agents dating back to WWI.

The footage of purported victims of recent chemical weapons attacks in Syria shows a distressing number of children's corpses... but then both Saddam Hussein and Hezbollah have been accused of stockpiling them in the past to reserve for media events. The Syrian National Front might be no different.
Dead children are an abomination under any circumstances -- and every propagandist knows it.

However, film of partly shrouded dead children (showing gray faces but whose bodies are wrapped in thick cloth) yields few obvious clues about the manner of their death.

The victims of the chemical weapons attack in a mosque (again, with an abundance of children) show no signs of the painful blisters that attend exposure to mustard gas or the twitches and convulsions of exposure to nerve gas.

Also, blister and nerve agents tend to be "persistent" which means those who blithely treat casualties without wearing full protection soon become casualties too.

It is possible, indeed probable, that the Assad Regime has used chemical weapons at times on Syrian National Front rebels. It is equally likely that the rebels have returned the favour. However, one could wonder why both sides seem to be randomly firing limited qualities against non-combatants, instead of reserving their stocks to seek some decisive battlefield advantage somewhere.

In a vicious ideologically-driven civil war with plenty of murders and massacres already to the discredit of both sides, it may not be too cynical to submit that chemical weapons -- when used -- are mostly being used for their propaganda value as "proof" of the bestial nature of the foe. We require no further proofs about either side.

- mod edit to add link -

 

[CougarKing]

The French again calling for intervention... 

link

France says force needed if Syrian chemical attack proved true
Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Thursday that the international community would need to respond with force if allegations that the Syrian government was responsible for a chemical attack on civilians proved true.

"There would have to be reaction with force in Syria from the international community, but there is no question of sending troops on the ground," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told French television network BFM.

If the U.N. Security Council could not make a decision, one would have to be taken "in other ways," he said, without elaborating.

Opposition activists accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces of gassing hundreds, including women and children, in Wednesday's attack.

What would be the world's most lethal chemical weapons attack since the 1980s led to an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York.

The council did not explicitly demand a U.N. investigation of the incident, although it said "clarity" was needed and welcomed U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's calls for a prompt investigation by a U.N. inspection team already in Syria.

The council's statement was watered down to accommodate objections from Russia and China, diplomats said. Moscow and Beijing have vetoed previous Western efforts to impose U.N. penalties on Assad.

Fabius, who had a working dinner with his British counterpart William Hague in Paris on Wednesday night to discuss Syria, said the alleged attack had come almost exactly a year after U.S. President Barack Obama warned that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a red line.

The attack highlighted the sense of impunity within Assad's government, he said.

Fabius said that if Assad refused to let the U.N. inspection team investigate the site, he would have been caught with "his hand in the till."

(Reporting By John Irish; Editing by John Stonestreet)

 

[Journeyman]

The council did not explicitly demand a U.N. investigation of the incident, although it said "clarity" was needed .....
The council's statement was watered down to accommodate objections from Russia and China......

It's good to see that the UN continues to step up to the plate with all the decisive, credibile effectiveness of the League of Nations.

 

[Rifleman62]

As does the POTUS.

 

[CougarKing]

It's good to see that the UN continues to step up to the plate with all the decisive, credibile effectiveness of the League of Nations.

We need another sarcasm smiley. :sarcasm:

 

[George Wallace]

The council did not explicitly demand a U.N. investigation of the incident, although it said "clarity" was needed .....
The council's statement was watered down to accommodate objections from Russia and China......

And we all know how well the last UN investigation into Syria went.    :

 

[57Chevy]

If is a very BIG word but it is also a very iffy word.

Who can make a real decision based on iffy facts ?

:argument:

 

[The Bread Guy]

Something from the U.S. Congressional Research Service - here's the summary of the latest version of the report (20 Aug 13)....

The use or loss of control of chemical weapons stocks in Syria could have unpredictable consequences for the Syrian population and neighboring countries as well as U.S. allies and forces in the region. Congress may wish to assess the Administration’s plans to respond to possible scenarios involving the use, change of hands, or loss of control of Syrian chemical weapons.

Syria has produced, stored, and weaponized chemical weapons, but it remains dependent on foreign suppliers for chemical precursors. The regime of President Bashar al Asad reportedly has stocks of nerve (sarin, VX) and blister (mustard gas) agents, possibly weaponized into bombs, shells, and missiles, and associated production facilities. Chemical weapons and their agents can deteriorate depending on age and quality. Little is known from open sources about the current size and condition of the stockpile. Syria continues to attempt to procure new supplies of chemical weapons precursors, which are dual-use, through front companies in third countries. Most countries that have had chemical weapons arsenals in the past have destroyed these weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention, or are in the process of destroying them. The U.S. intelligence community cites Iran, North Korea, and Syria as having active chemical weapons programs.

While the United States and other governments have said they believe the Asad regime has kept its chemical weapons stocks secure, policymakers are concerned about what could happen to these weapons in the course of the civil war, such as diversion to terrorist groups or loss of control during a regime collapse.

Reports in early December 2012 quoted unnamed officials as saying intelligence showed possible preparations for use, but this was denied by the Syrian government. Since then, press reports have discussed several alleged incidents of chemical weapons use in Syria by both the government and opposition forces. A United Nations chemical weapons inspection team is negotiating with Syria on access to the sites to investigate. On June 13, 2013, the White House released a statement saying that following its investigation, “our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year. Our intelligence community has high confidence in that assessment given multiple, independent streams of information.” The June 13 statement said that chemical weapons use had resulted in an estimated 100-150 deaths in Syria.

President Obama and other world leaders have said that the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population would be met with consequences, which could include the use of military force. There is also concern that Syria could transfer its chemical weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Administration officials have stated that the United States has been working with regional allies to detect the movement of chemical weapons, prepare interdiction scenarios, and mitigate possible use against military or civilian populations. The June 13 White House statement said that in response to the Asad regime’s use of chemical weapons, the President has authorized the expansion of military assistance to the opposition forces in Syria.

During conflict, the intelligence community and Special Forces units would likely play a major role in locating and securing such weapons in a combat environment. The nature and recent course of the conflict in Syria suggests that rapid changes in control over critical military weapons of mass destruction through threat reduction or nonproliferation programs have focused on destruction or scientist redirection in an atmosphere of cooperation. At present, such programs are providing border security assistance to neighboring states. U.S. policymakers and Congress may wish to review and discuss authorities, funding, forces, and scenarios in advance.

 

[Edward Campbell]

The Good Grey Globe's Brian Gable has it:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/damage-claim/article13538502/#dashboard/follows/

Reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Globe and Mail

 

[OldSolduer]

Lets send a letter and if that doesn't work ......a strongly worded letter...... :facepalm:

 

[CougarKing]

The US gathering its forces for a Libya-style strike on Assad's regime? Does anyone here think that there will also be a Russian response to support their client state?

military.com link

Hagel Hints At Possible Syrian Strike

Aug 24, 2013


Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel strongly hinted Friday that naval forces were moving into position for a possible cruise missile strike against Syria.  And President Obama said a decision on military action was imminent following reports President Bashar al-Assad has again used chemical weapons.

"The Defense Department has responsibility to provide the president with options for all contingencies. And that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options - whatever options the president might choose," Hagel told reporters traveling with him on his trip to Malaysia.

Obama has asked the Pentagon to provide options on Syria after a reported gas attack has mounted pressure on the White House to respond to the escalated violence in the civil war, Hagel said.


A defense official told the defense reporters on the plan that the Navy would expand the number of cruise-missile armed warships in the Mediterranean Sea to four.

The USS Mahan, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer armed with cruise missiles, was due to return to its home base of Norfolk, Va., but the Sixth Fleet Commander has since ordered the warship to remain in the Mediterranean, a defense official told the reporters according to a Reuters report.

In a CNN interview aired Friday, President Obama repeatedly answered "yes" without elaborating when asked if the time frame for a U.S. decision on military action had been dramatically shortened by reports that Syrian forces had used chemical weapons on opposition neighborhoods in the suburbs of Damascus.

The use of chemical weapons "starts getting to some core national interests that the United States has, both in terms of us making sure that weapons of mass destruction are not proliferating, as well as needing to protect our allies, our bases in the region," Obama said.

Obama's remarks heightened speculation among Mideast analysts and in regional media that a U.S. decision on cruise missile strikes or moves to supply the rebels with heavy weaponry was imminent.

Syria's alleged large-scale use of chemical weapons has focused attention on the role of a small but growing base called Central Command Forward-Jordan that could serve as an operations hub should the U.S. decide to take action in the civil war.

About 1,000 U.S. troops are now in Jordan, building on a detachment of several hundred that were left behind at the request of Jordan's King Abdullah II after the Eager Lion training exercises in June.

To comply with the War Powers Act, Obama sent a letter to Congress in the June stating that the U.S. presence in Jordan would include "Patriot missile systems, fighter aircraft (F-16s), and related support, command, control and communications personnel and systems."

"The detachment will remain in Jordan, in full coordination with the government of Jordan, until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed," Obama's letter said.

Earlier this month, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave a brief tour of the Jordan base to reporters traveling with him to Israel and Jordan to discuss the crisis in Syria and other regional issues. Dempsey told the troops that the U.S. presence in Jordan would likely be needed for years.

The U.S. would stay until the Jordanians "felt themselves fully capable of dealing not only with their humanitarian crisis but also the potential that they would suddenly have to defend Jordan," Dempsey said. "And they would have to reach that point against not only conventional but, likely, unconventional and terrorist threats."

U.S. troops in Jordan have been assisting with the refugee crisis, building a sanitation system in the camps for the more than 500,000 Syrian refugees who have fled into Jordan.

Dempsey stressed that the U.S. troops were there primarily to aid in the defense of Jordan and to ease the refugee crisis, but regional media said the base was at the forefront of U.S. planning in the event of action against Syria.

Al Jazeera reported in June that the base was seen as a launch pad "for possible military action in Syria, including scenarios to secure the regime's chemical weapons stockpiles."

Troops from all the military services were in Jordan, including a headquarters staff from 1st Armored Division that included military planners, communications experts and logisticians, the American Forces Press Service reported.

Mideast analysts said Obama's declaration that Syria's use of chemical weapons was a "red line" for U.S. policy made military action more likely.

"A president of the U.S. cannot say something crosses a red line and then go on conducting business as usual," said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Two initiatives come to mind," Haass said in an op-ed for the Financial Times. "The first would be to launch cruise missile strikes against select targets: anything associated with chemical weapons, command and control sites, and airfields used by government forces."

"The second would be to make good on the promise to supply those opposition forces deemed politically acceptable with significant numbers of anti-air and anti-armor capabilities," Haass wrote.

 

[CougarKing]

That's FOUR US Aegis destroyers nearing Syria... 

4 US Destroyers Positioned Near Syria as Obama, Security Team Discuss Options

Quote:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — US President Barack Obama met with his top national security advisors early Saturday to discuss the response to Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons, a White House official said.

"The president has directed the intelligence community to gather facts and evidence so that we can determine what occurred in Syria. Once we ascertain the facts, the president will make an informed decision about how to respond," the official said.

"We have a range of options available, and we are going to act very deliberately so that we're making decisions consistent with our national interest as well as our assessment of what can advance our objectives in Syria."

Another U.S. defense official tells [Defense News sister publication] Navy Times that there are now four destroyers positioned in the eastern Mediterranean Sea: the Mahan, Barry, Gravely and Ramage. The Mahan was initially scheduled to head home, being replaced by the Ramage. But for now, Mahan will remain deployed, the official said.


Defense News link

 

[tomahawk6]

I wonder what the Russian and Chinese response will be if the US strikes Syria ?

 

[OldSolduer]

I wonder what the Russian and Chinese response will be if the US strikes Syria ?

Good question. I bet it's not a strongly worded letter......

 

[Rifleman62]

The Chinese will cease selling anything to Wally Mart.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Looky who's getting together for a sit-down and a chat - this from the Jordanian military info-machine:

The chiefs of staff of Jordan, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada will hold a meeting in Amman in the coming few days to discuss regional security and implications of the ongoing crisis in Syria, an official military source at the Jordan Armed Forces said.

The meeting, which comes at an invitation by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt, Gen, Mishaal Zaben and Commander of the U.S. Central Command General Lloyd J. Austin, aims also at discussing military cooperation between these countries and Jordan to preserve the Kingdom's security and the safety of its people, the source added. The source affirmed that the meeting is a continuation of bilateral and multilateral meetings that will be followed by other meetings in the future to continue coordination between the participating countries and evaluate current events and their impact on the security of the region in general.

Kuwait News Agency, 24 Aug 13

 

[CougarKing]

London flexes its muscles in anticipation of a Syria strike, while Assad's regime finally allows weapons inspectors to conduct an investigation into the alleged chemical attack.

Question: Wouldn't cruise missiles strikes seem more likely considering that the Assad's military has S300 missile batteries that would make it hard for strike aircraft such as F15Es to linger over Syrian airspace?

National Post link

U.K. prepping warships as West eyes strike on Syria in wake of suspected chemical attack


Britain is planning to join forces with America and launch military action against Syria within days in response to the gas attack believed to have been carried out by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against his own people.

British Royal Navy vessels are being readied to take part in a possible series of cruise missile strikes, alongside the United States, as military commanders finalize a list of potential targets.

Government sources said talks between Prime Minister David Cameron and international leaders, including Barack Obama, would continue but that any military action that was agreed could begin within the next week.

As the preparations gathered pace, William Hague, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, warned that the world could not stand by and allow the Assad regime to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people “with impunity.”

Britain, the U.S. and their allies must show Mr. Assad that to perpetrate such an atrocity “is to cross a line and that the world will respond when that line is crossed,” he said.
British forces now look likely to be drawn into an intervention in the Syrian crisis after months of deliberation and international disagreement over how to respond to the long and bloody civil war.

The possibility of such intervention will provoke demands for Britain’s Parliament to be recalled this week.

The escalation comes as a direct response to what the government is now convinced was a gas attack perpetrated by Syrian forces on a civilian district of Damascus last Wednesday.

The Assad regime has been under mounting pressure to allow United Nations inspectors on to the site to establish who was to blame for the atrocity. One international agency said it had counted at least 355 people dead and 3,600 injured following the attack, while reports suggested the true death toll could be as high as 1,300.

Syrian state media accused rebel forces of using chemical agents, saying some government soldiers had suffocated as a result during fighting.

After days of delay, the Syrian government finally offered Sunday to allow a team of UN inspectors access to the area. However, Mr. Hague suggested that this offer of access five days after the attack had come too late.

“We cannot in the 21st century allow the idea that chemical weapons can be used with impunity, that people can be killed in this way and that there are no consequences for it,” he said.

The Foreign Secretary said all the evidence “points in one direction,” to the use of illegal chemical agents by Assad regime forces.

A government source added that even if UN inspectors visited the site of the attack, “we would need convincing by the UN team that this was not the regime’s attack because we believe everything points to the fact that it was.”

Officials said the Assad regime has continued bombarding the area in the days since the attack took place last Wednesday, making it likely that any evidence, which could establish who was responsible, will have been destroyed.

Mr. Cameron interrupted his holiday in Cornwall for talks with Mr. Obama, Francois Hollande, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. After discussions via a secure telephone line over the weekend, all the leaders agreed on the need for a “serious response.” Government sources confirmed that military action was among the options “on the table” but said no decisions had been taken.

The Prime Minister, however, is believed to have abandoned hope of securing any further meaningful response from the UN amid opposition from Russia.

Labour said Parliament must be recalled if Mr. Cameron was considering a military response, but government sources said this may not be necessary as the Prime Minister retained the right to act urgently if required.

Mr. Cameron will face criticism for any British military involvement from many MPs, who believe the Armed Forces are already overstretched and must not be committed to another distant conflict.

Any retaliatory attack would be likely to be launched from the sea as the Syrian air force is judged to be strong enough to shoot down enemy jets.


A Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine is said to be in the region while a number of warships recently left Britain for exercises in the Mediterranean.

Commanders may also need to make use of the RAF base at Akrotiri, Cyprus for air support.

If military action is approved, the first wave of missiles could start within a week.

The Royal Navy declined to comment on the current positions of its submarines, but they regularly pass through the area on their way to the Suez Canal.

America’s Sixth Fleet currently has four guided missile destroyers in the area, each of which could join the attack.

The Royal Navy also has its rapid response task force in the Mediterranean. The group includes two frigates and the helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious.

Navy sources said there were no plans to change the exercises, but the group provided “strategic contingency” if needed.

Plus more on the UN inspections that the Assad regime has allowed:

CNN link

Damascus, Syria (CNN) -- As U.N. inspectors get ready to look over the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, a U.S. official told CNN there is almost no doubt that the Bashar al-Assad regime is responsible.

"There is nothing credible to indicate that the rebels, either the Syrian National Council or even al-Nusra Front, have used chemical weapons," the official said. "Only the Assad regime is responsible for chemical weapons use."

Rebel forces and the Syrian regime have been blaming each other for Wednesday's reported attack in a suburb of Damascus, which opposition members say killed hundreds.

Gruesome video of the aftermath showed numerous bodies, including women and children.

The official, who is not authorized to speak on the record, said the evidence goes beyond images and open-source reporting from doctors and others and said there is a "wide range of tools" to collect and analyze enough data to make an informed assertion.

U.S. officials: Tissue samples were collected

A second U.S. official told CNN Sunday that tissue samples were collected from the scene in the hours and days after the August 21 attack.

The official says the evidence was "collected by multiple international sources" and was being analyzed in secure locations. The official would not say how the samples were collected or specify where the analysis was taking place.

These developments came as a top Syrian official told CNN on Sunday that the government would allow U.N. inspectors full access to any site of a suspected chemical weapons attack.

The agreement is effective immediately, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad said.

The U.N. secretary-general's office said inspectors hope to begin their investigation Monday at the suspected chemical attack site. The Syrian government has agreed to cease all hostilities as long as the U.N. inspectors are on the ground. Before Sunday, U.N. inspectors in Syria attempting to gather information were not allowed to visit the site of the recent attack.

(...)