US seizes on dubious gas attack to push for expanded Syrian war
By
Jordan Shilton
5 April 2017
The Trump administration has seized on allegations Tuesday that the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad carried out a gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-controlled province of Idlib to push for a further escalation of military conflict in the Middle East.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring body linked to the Syrian opposition, 58 people, among them 11 children aged eight or younger, were killed in the early morning attack.
Rebel forces, which control the area, accused the government of using chemical weapons in an air strike. Pro-government sources argued that the blast had been caused by an explosion at a weapons factory run by the Islamist al-Nusra Front, which has a strong presence in the region and has previously conducted chemical weapons attacks.
The Syrian government released a statement denying all responsibility, while Russia confirmed it had not launched any air strikes in the area.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov stated that the Syrian air force struck a munitions factory east of the town, where rebels were producing shells filled with toxic gas to be sent to Iraq. He added that Islamist militants had used similar chemical weapons last year during the fighting in the city of Aleppo.
While it remains unclear who bears responsibility for the reported attack, the circumstances surrounding it are highly dubious. Late last week, high-ranking Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and UN Ambassador Niki Hayley, stated publicly that Washington’s main priority in Syria was not the removal of Assad but the waging of the conflict against Islamic State.
This prompted a…