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Comment by Cyph0n | Hacker News Reader

> I'm still not convinced that the Chemical Weapons where from Assad or the Russians attack and the probability of them actually being in a weapons store the rebels held, to me seems if not equally probable.

I wasn't aware that the rebels controlled fighter jets?

> I also believe Assad would be totally foolish to use Chemical Weapons

This is not the first time Assad uses chemical agents...

I'm honestly quite surprised to see such a display of mental gymnastics being upvoted on HN.

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> This is not the first time Assad uses chemical agents...

The situation has changed though. His regime's prospects of surviving are the best they've been since the war started. Why risk upsetting the current situation for such a small gain?

Do you seriously think that Assad thinks about stuff like that? This guy repeatedly allowed the use of chemical agents on his own civilian population! He is the definition of evil, so using them again is just natural.

Evil =/= stupid

He has absolutely nothing to gain from using chemical agents when he is already winning through conventional means. Even more so considering he probably doesn't plan individual strikes

Much more likely this is a false flag pushed by Israel/Saudi Arabia because Assad's regime is an ally of Iran - their biggest rival in the region.

> Even more so considering he probably doesn't plan individual strikes.

We don't know that, especially when it comes to using chemical weapons. And even if he doesn't, he definitely delegates to representatives he trusts.

> Much more likely this is a false flag

I'm honestly speechless.

Let's suppose for a moment that Assad's regime was responsible for the use of chemical weapons on civilians, and that he did not individually, specifically authorize this attack.

If he didn't authorize it directly, it doesn't matter - his regime is set up in such a way that actors under his authority used chemical weapons on civilians.

The justification of a response is not impacted by whether or not he was individually responsible.

>I wasn't aware that the rebels controlled fighter jets?

They don't and afaik no one is claiming that they do. The Syrian government isn't denying a bombing. They're saying that they bombed using conventional munitions but hit a chemical weapon stockpile.

And we're supposed to believe the claims of a government that has used chemical agents on civilians multiple times? Have you heard of 'the boy who cried wolf'?

Are we supposed to believe the same guys that came up with the ginned up tale that got us into Iraq?

Yes. Given our history, mistakes and all, yes.

If you haven't read up on Operation Avarice, it would be worth your time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_and_weapons_of_mass_destr...

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