State department says it will respond ‘quickly and appropriately’ if use of chlorine is proven
May 22, 2019
Source: The Guardian
The US says it has seen signs the Syrian government may be using chemical weapons, including an alleged chlorine attack on Sunday in the north-west, warning that Washington and its allies would respond if this were proven.
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement on Tuesday: “We are still gathering information on [Sunday’s] incident, but we repeat our warning that if the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, the United States and our allies will respond quickly and appropriately.”
Ortagus said the alleged attack was part of a violent campaign by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces, violating a ceasefire that has protected several million civilians in the greater Idlib area.
“The regime’s attacks against the communities of north-west Syria must end,” the statement said. “The United States reiterates its warning, first issued by President Trump in September 2018, that an attack against the Idlib de-escalation zone would be a reckless escalation that threatens to destabilise the region.”
The Trump administration has twice bombed Syria over Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons, in April 2017 and April 2018. In September, a senior US official said there was evidence chemical weapons were being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in the country.
“The Assad regime must not repeat the use of chemical weapons in Syria,” Commander Sean Robertson, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. “There should be no doubt as to our determination to act strongly and swiftly should the Assad regime use these weapons again in the future.”
The State Department statement accused Russia and Assad’s forces of “a continuing disinformation campaign … to create the false narrative that others are to blame for chemical weapons attacks”.
“The facts, however, are clear,” the statement said. “The Assad regime itself has conducted almost all verified chemical weapons attacks that have taken place in Syria – a conclusion the United Nations has reached over and over again.”
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Syrian government had a history of resorting to chemical weapons when fighting intensified. The official, however, was not aware of any confirmation of what substance was allegedly used, if at all, and said the US government was still gathering information.
There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government on the US statement.
In March, Syrian state media cited a hospital in government-held Hama as saying 21 people suffered choking symptoms from poison gas after rebels shelled a village.
In January, US national security adviser John Bolton warned the Syrian government against using chemical weapons again.
*There is absolutely no change in the US position against the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and absolutely no change in our position that any use of chemical weapons would be met by a very strong response, as we’ve done twice before,” Bolton said at the time.
