The Syrian regime is dragging its feet on the destruction of its chemical weapons program, and that has the US pressuring Russia – a Syrian ally. The Russians brokered the deal that saw the US back off of air strikes against Syria in exchange for a Syrian commitment to destroy its chemical weapons.
With Syria now showing signs of reneging on the deal, a prominent American newspaper, The Washington Post, says that the use of force should be back on the table.
The BBC cited a US official as saying that the US has urged Russia to “push” the Syrians to speed up the destruction of the chemical weapons. The official termed Syrian progress thus far as “unacceptable.”
The US recently slammed the Syrians lack of activity in removing the weapons to the ships tagged with destroying them. An official quoted by the State Department also said the US is unhappy with Syria’s request to render key facilities “inactive” instead of destroying them.
The American concerns were enough to prompt The Washington Post Editorial to write that President Obama “has been noticeably adverse to direct US military action in Syria, but if Syria continues to treat the chemical weapons as a bargaining chip, the threat must be made real, and used if necessary.”
Looks like the Syrians are trying to play the West for fools. If this continues, we might just find ourselves in another military stare down with Syria.
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.tgemideastupdate.com, February 3, 2014)