And Then What?
"No odour, no smoke, not even a whistle to indicate the release of a toxic gas. And then the symptoms appear. The men cough violently. Their eyes burn, their pupils shrink, their vision blurs. Soon they experience difficulty breathing, sometimes in the extreme; they begin to vomit or lose consciousness. The fighters worst affected need to be evacuated before they suffocate."
Damascus: Jean-Philippe Remy, journalist, Le Monde
That's the description, completely credible, rendered by two French journalists who had the experience of two months spent undercover in Syria, embedded with rebel forces on the outskirts of Damascus. The other journalist is Laurent van der Stockt, a photographer. Mr. van der Stockt happened to be beside rebel fighters targeted by a gas attack. He was left with blurred vision and respiratory difficulties that lasted a four-day period.
Mr. Remy was describing their experience. Witnessing the reaction of the rebel militants as they began coughing, reaching for their gas masks, but too late. One rebel described for them their initial confusion by an April 13 chemical attack in Jobar. Uncertain about what was happening, none of them deserted their posts. Wheezing for breath, "terrorized and trying to calm themselves through prayer", they remained.
One can only suppose that the regime's military, using the chemicals on their opposition, were also praying, that the chemicals would succeed in destroying enough lives so as to make their job defending the capital a little easier. They share a religion, but on opposite sides of the sectarian divide. The chemical weapons attacks have taken place in various areas, beginning in March, continuing through April and now May.
The commander of the Free Syrian Army's first division, General Abu Mohammad Al-Kurdi, explained that his men watched as government soldiers left their positions, just in advance of other men "wearing chemical protection suits" who took their place, setting "little bombs, like mines" on the ground. Clearly, well coordinated. Those little bombs like mines began emitting a chemical product that revealed their atrocious result.
"The people we saw were having difficulty in breathing. Their pupils were retracted. Some of them vomited, they were unconscious, didn't speak and their respiratory muscles weren't working. If they weren't treated immediately, they would have died", testified a doctor identified as Hassan, describing his patients' symptoms.
Another hospital claimed to have received 39 patients after a chemical attack in Adra back in March. Two of the affected patients died after having become completely mentally deranged, according to the physicians there. The French journalists, in interviewing doctors who had experience treating the affected fighters were informed that the attacks were ongoing across Syria, the most recent being in Adra.
"The aim of the attacks seemed to be essentially tactical at this stage -- an attempt to destabilize rebel units in areas where government soldiers have been unable to dislodge them, and at the same time, a test. If Syrian army forces could dare to use chemical weapons in their own capital without setting off a serious international reaction, would that not be an invitation to pursue the experiment a bit further?" Mr. Remy wrote.
That most certainly appears to have been the case, as red lines became fainter with each successive attack signalling the all-clear...to proceed with an effective remedy against stubborn opposition.
Labels: Atrocities, Chemical warfare, Conflict, News Media, Revolution, Syria
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, May 28, 2013
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