The United Nations team investigating a chemical weapons attack last month in Syria has found that sarin was used.
"In particular, the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Amalaka in the Ghouta area of Damascus," a 38-page report says.
Chemical weapons "were used on a relatively large scale," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a briefing to the U.N. Security Council.
It's "the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them in Halabja in 1988," Ban said.
"This is a war crime and a grave violation of the1925 Protocol and other rules of customary international law. I trust all can join me in condemning this despicable crime. The international community has a responsibility to hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure that chemical weapons never re-emerge as an instrument of warfare."
The U.N. team's mandate did not include assigning blame for the attack. Ban would not speculate on who may be responsible.
Gary Quinlan, Australia's U.N. ambassador, who is currently serving as president of the Security Council, said the report bolsters his country's stance. It "confirms, in our view, that there is no remaining doubt that it was the regime that used chemical weapons."
Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., also said a preliminary review of the report shows it supports the U.S. position that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime was responsible.
"The regime possesses sarin, and we have no evidence that the opposition possesses sarin," she said.
And, Power said, "it defies logic" to think members of the opposition would have infiltrated a regime-controlled area to fire on opposition-controlled areas.
I never really thought there was any doubt after more information came in about the attacks, but I know that the Russians and certain Right Wing "news" outlets were still trying to create confusion about where the attacks originated.
Nice to know that our intelligence was right, which I have to say is a vast improvement over the Bush era intelligence, which seemed to be whatever the hell Dick Cheney wanted it to be.
Hopefully with this report out there the Russians will hold Assad's feet to the fire and move quickly to get control over his chemical weapons program.
