There have been reports from multiple news agencies that chemical weapons have been used during the fighting in Syria. The allegations are coming from both sides–al Assad’s regime and the rebel forces. As of now there has been no confirmation that chemical weapons were actually used during the morning of the March 19th attack.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, medical sources have confirmed the death of 26 people by a rocket falling on the town of Khan al-Asal, 16 of the dead were regular soldiers, 10 were civilians.

Link to Reuters article

Claims state that there was chemical munitions within the rocket that was launched and that there was a strong chlorine smell coming from the impact area. Considering that the majority of deaths caused by the rocket attack were part of the Syrian regime, it is likely the attack came from rebel forces. With al-Qaeda’s presence via al-Nusra at the forefront of the fighting it is likely they were/are the source of the chemical weapons. If al-Nusra is the source of the attack they will surely be staking claim within the next couple of days.

This event could also be the start of a desperate attempt by al-Assad to stop the overthrow of his regime. If al-Assad did unleash what analysts believe are the largest chemical weapons stores in the world, consisting principally of sarin, mustard gas and cyanide, it could be the start of something bigger than we have seen in the last 7o years.

Washington is in an uproar and there are talks of a necessary intervention if there is truth at the center of the attack. It is well known that Syria has multiple chemical weapons manufacturing and storage facilities across the western side of the country. If an aerial strike were initiated on these chemical weapons sites, the risk of contamination would be too great a moral burden on the U.S.

Another concern is that if al-Nusra has access to chemical weapons in Syria, then it is reasonable to assume that al-Qaeda has access to chemical weapons to use when and where they please. What does this mean for the United States? Well, the DHS pucker factor just went from making coal to diamonds. If it is confirmed that chemical weapons were used during the rocket attack it will put the international community on edge and they will surely call for intervention by the U.S.

It appears as though the action of sending SOF into Syria to take hold and destroy the remaining chemical weapons may be on the National Security Counsels radar. The chemical weapons that remain in Syria do need to be destroyed, but there must be another solution to keep al-Nusra and al-Qaeda’s away from the possibility of producing an MCI on U.S. soil.

Do I have the solution? I wish that I did. It would be nice–for a change–if our least favorite Feinstein and the rest of the anti-gun fanatics would focus on a real problem. Maybe they can stop squabbling over their pay raises and come up with a solution that doesn’t involve the death of more U.S. soldiers.

There is nothing they can do now that will prevent the 70,000 dead and over 1 million displaced, but maybe while they are discussing chemical weapons, they can come up with another solution to Syria, other than arming the rebels… cough, cough…al-Nusra.

(Featured Image Courtesy: thelevantpost.com)