U.S. Can’t Prove Bashar Assad Approved Chemical Attacks In Syria -- Washington Times
Control of deadly weapons in question
U.S. intelligence has yet to uncover evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad directly ordered the chemical attacks last month on civilians in a suburb of Damascus, though the consensus inside U.S. agencies and Congress is that members of Mr. Assad’s inner circle likely gave the command, officials tell The Washington Times.
The gap in the intelligence has raised debate in some corners of the wider intelligence community about whether Mr. Assad has full control of his war-weary Army and their arsenal of chemical missiles, which most likely would be treasured by terrorist groups known to be operating in Syria, said officials, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing intelligence matters.
“If there was a rogue general that did it on his own accord, that would be a bigger problem for Assad, because that would imply that he does not have control of his own weapons,” said one senior congressional source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments on Syria.
Read more ....
Update: Syrian crisis: Keeping up with key developments -- CNN
My Comment: This is a big problem for the U.S. administration. The UN will probably point the finger at the Assad regime for last month chemical attack that killed 1400 Syrians .... but did Syrian President Assad ordered the attack .... German intelligence is saying no. As a result .... with only circumstantial evidence on hand .... and fears that Syrian President Assad may have lost control of some of his chemical stockpiles .... the U.S. is now shifting the focus (and possible blame if things go wrong) onto the Russians.
Sighhh .... there was a time when the U.S. led and never followed .... I guess those times are over.
Update #2: This is ominous but not surprising .... US and Russia Far Apart on Eve of Talks Over Syria -- New York Times