The FSA is claiming Assad's military is using chlorine gas in Syria - Polidicks

[quote]A suspected chlorine-gas attack by Syrian government helicopters has killed a child and injured about 40 people in Saraqeb, activists say, in the second attack on the northwestern town in days. Friday night's alleged attack in Saraqeb, in Idlib province, which is controlled by a coalition of opposition groups, follows reports of a similar helicopter barrage using barrel bombs on Wednesday. It also comes a day after an international chemical-weapons watchdog said it was ready to investigate a series of recent chemical attacks. Videos shared by the Syrian Civil Defence activist group showed medics and residents rushing children to a local hospital as they coughed, some gasping for air. A video from Nareb, another town in the province where fighters supported by Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have made gains in recent days against troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, showed a medic receiving oxygen himself after rescuing people from another attack. [img]http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2015/3/28/764dd9ee32a846ce8db909df25203637_18.jpg[/img][/quote] [url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/fresh-claims-chlorine-gas-attacks-syria-150502235313185.html[/url]

Wouldn't surprise me. And wasn't there a rumor that Saddam trucked his chemical weapons into Syria to hide them when the USA started fucking up their shit?

Hasn't there been reports of chemical weapon attacks in Syria before? [url]http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/chemical-weapons-attack-in-syria/[/url]

I still don't understand how people are still left alive in Syria. Every day we hear about hundreds of casualties, and thousands of people pouring out of the country.

With how ISIS is using BIEDs, this does not surprise me. You have to remember that Assad's military has been effectively using barrel bombs from helicopters which have proven to be terrifyingly effective at taking out rebel positions. It would not really take much to fill a barrel bomb with whatever chemicals can be cooked up in some underground factory, and drop a few of them on an insurgent packed area for disastrous effects. Even if this attack was done by paramilitary groups under Assad, manufacturing chemical mortar rounds isn't exactly a complex thing. As mentioned previously, ISIS is manufacturing chlorine bombs by the truckload, and chems bombs have been used on coalition soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan since the start of the insurgency phase.

Few weeks back, Conflict News on twitter had reported it, lot of signs. Ever since them, I've seen many reports, and lots of dead people from the chlorine attacks...

Seems rather ineffective to use helicopters for chlorine gas, the point is to use it when there's no wind and create a fog, helicopters generally create a lot of wind Still he's also using helicopters as bombers by kicking explosive barrels out the back

[QUOTE=Sableye;47661765]Seems rather ineffective to use helicopters for chlorine gas, the point is to use it when there's no wind and create a fog, helicopters generally create a lot of wind Still he's also using helicopters as bombers by kicking explosive barrels out the back[/QUOTE] Gotta use what you have, not what you wish you have. Plus I'm sure there's a certain height a helicopter can fly where it's both effective at the bombing while also not having an impact on the air.

I'd say the draft from the helicopter would actually improve the effectiveness. The wind generated by a helicopter is strong enough to disperse the gas, but not strong or persistent enough to dissipate it

[QUOTE=Kyle902;47663259]I'd say the draft from the helicopter would actually improve the effectiveness. The wind generated by a helicopter is strong enough to disperse the gas, but not strong or persistent enough to dissipate it[/QUOTE] uh if you're dropping barrel's full of the gas, they're not going to be flying low enough to be affected by it (the same height you'd need to be to have wind generated from the rotors spreading the gas.) they're probably thin plastic/metal barrels sealed tight and dropped from a height so that, on impact, they burst open and spread the gas. it's a cheap and effective method of gas bombing. but it's still a disgusting thing to do.

[QUOTE=DuCT;47661448]Wouldn't surprise me. And wasn't there a rumor that Saddam trucked his chemical weapons into Syria to hide them when the USA started fucking up their shit?[/QUOTE] A bunch of Iraqi officials claimed after the war that Saddam had smuggled its remaining chemical weapons (as well as biological weapon research) to Syria in September 2002 after President Bush became increasingly aggressive about Saddam refusing to allow weapons inspectors into the country. They claim that following Bush's speech in January 2002 (denouncing Iraq as part of the 'axis of evil'), the Iraqi government began to search for and amass all of their remaining chemical weapons and precursors and prepare them for shipment or destruction. A Syrian dam flooded in July 2002 and then in late August the Iraqi government began making numerous daily flights to Syria, claiming they were delivering humanitarian aid. It's known that they made at least 60 such flights, though the contents are unknown. In September 2002, Saddam announced he would be willing to allow weapons inspectors into Iraq without any conditions or attempts to hinder them. This gives credence to the theory that Saddam had been worried about his remaining stockpiles being discovered and waited for an opportune moment to smuggle them out, since he made that announcement only days after the flights to Syria ended. Kind of off-topic to the whole thread, but it's still interesting to think about.