Syria chemical attack: something horrific and large-scale has taken place

The Assad regime's likely use of nerve gas in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta reveals the west as ever more reluctant to become entangled in the regional crisis

Peter Beaumont

theguardian.com, Wednesday 21 August 2013

"There are many aspects about the latest reported chemical weapons attack in Syria, on the outskirts of Damascus, that are not in doubt. While the numbers have yet to be nailed down precisely, it is clear that something horrific and large-scale took place.

The attack was consistent with some previous reports of use of chemical agents by the Assad regime – allegations of a mixed attack using a combination of conventional and chemical munitions.
The symptoms, too, appeared largely consistent with the use of a toxic gas. While there have been caveats about exactly what was used, it seems clear that something terrible did occur in Ghouta and that the most likely candidate must be the regime of Bashar al-Assad.....

Given that the balance of probability suggests that the regime did use the weapons, one possible explanation suggests a profound shift in both the regime's analysis of the likelihood of a meaningful international response and a further worrying development in the Syrian military doctrine for the use of chemical weapons.....

International paralysis over the coup in Egypt and growing instability in Libya, and growing tension in Tunisia, is likely to have confirmed the view in Damascus that there is little appetite for intervention. On the ground Ghouta, too, has been a persistent problem, threatening the capital, and apparently resilient to regime efforts to retake it, perhaps encouraging more extreme tactics.

Another explanation put forward on Wednesday is that as much as Ghouta itself, the intended recipient for the message of the attack was the wider community in Syria still backing the rebels. That it was designed to dramatise just how weak and divided the international community is over Syria and emphasise the frightening notion that the regime can act with ever more impunity........"