Perhaps more interesting than the WMD issue, (I am starting to get WMDRF, Weapons of mass destruction reporting fatigue) is the Israeli estimate of the goal of jihadis in the area.
H/T Richard
Times of Israel
Aviv Kochavi says Islamist groups on Israel’s borders are veering away from global jihad and toward ‘local jihad’
By Mitch Ginsburg and AP March 14, 2013, 10:59 pm<
IDF Home Front Command soldiers take part in a 2011 defense drill simulating a chemical attack (photo credit: Gili Yaari/Flash 90)
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Israel’s military intelligence chief on Thursday said Syria’s embattled president, Bashar Assad, is preparing to use chemical weapons.
Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi told a security conference in the coastal town of Herzliya that Assad is stepping up his offensive against rebels trying to oust him.
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He claimed Assad is making advanced preparations to use chemical weapons, but has not yet given the order to deploy them. He did not disclose information about why he thinks Assad is preparing to use them.
Kochavi spoke for the better part of an hour, detailing the effects on Israel of the transformation of the Middle East in recent years.
Kochavi said that across the region, a lack of water, a rising demand for energy and an increasing difficulty in providing food for civilians, coupled with rising religious extremism and the overthrow of the long-enduring dictatorships, have thrown the region into profound tumult, creating “a completely different Middle East.”
The four primary Muslim powers in the region — Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia — are all governed by religious rule, and Israel, “for the first time in decades,” faces strife on four of its borders — Syria, Lebanon, Sinai and Gaza.
Since Russia has moved a squadron of warships to the med Assad figures he can defy the US and Europe.
Kerry says US won’t stand in way of France, Britain or anyone else arming Syria’s rebels
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration won’t hold back Britain, France or anyone else from arming Syria’s rebels.
Secretary of State John Kerry says the longer Syria’s violence goes on, the greater the danger of its institutions collapsing and extremists obtaining chemical weapons. He says: “The United States does not stand in the way of other countries that made a decision to provide arms, whether it’s France, or Britain or others.”
France’s president stated the two countries’ intentions last week.
Kerry cites an imbalance in the fighting. President Bashar Assad’s regime is attacking with tanks, scud missiles and aircraft — which the rebels don’t have. And Kerry says Iran, Hezbollah and al-Qaida-related elements are helping Assad.
While al-Qaida has clearly backed Syria’s rebels, it’s unclear how it or its allies are supporting Assad.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/Kerry+says+wont+stand+France+Britain+anyone+else+arming/8115063/story.html
Who does he think the Syrian Rebels are? Kerry is a worse disgrace as Sec of State then he was as a treasonous navel officer.