(Washington Post) Editorial - Bashar al-Assad's regime relinquished a large stockpile of chemical weapons under pressure but concealed some, or made new stocks, to eventually kill again, possibly with the connivance of Russia and Iran. The arms-control agreement Damascus signed did not protect the civilians who were murdered. Ever since the removal operation, suspicions had been growing that Assad possessed an undeclared cache of chemical weapons. In recent years, there has been far too much complacency about the dangers of non-nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Chemical and biological substances that cause great harm can be easily concealed. Arms-control agreements work when they are verifiable, with intrusive inspections. But they can be subverted.
2017-04-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive