Defense Secretary Mattis threatens Syria with military action if US finds 'evidence' of new sarin attack

South Front
Fri, 02 Feb 2018 19:53 UTC

© AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis threatens Syria with a military action if the US finds hard evidence to back up the claims of another sarin attack in the country.

On February 2, Mattis told reporters that chlorine gas was known to have been weaponized in attacks in Syria. He further added that the US suspects the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad uses sarin nerve gas as a weapon on the battlefield.

"We are even more concerned about the possibility of sarin use," the defense secretary said. "I don't have the evidence, what I am saying is, that other groups on the ground, NGOs, fighters on the ground, have said that sarin has been used, so we are looking for evidence."

"They would be ill-advised to go back to violating the chemical convention."

In April 2017, the US conducted a cruise missile strike against a Syrian airfield following reports about the alleged sarin use in the town of Khan Shaykhun.

"We're on the record and you all have seen how we reacted to that, so they would be ill-advised to go back to violating the chemical convention," Mattis said.

The new series of accusations that the Syrian government uses chlorine or even sarine against the so-called "rebels" and the "rebel-held" areas appared amid the rapid advance of the Syrian Arab Army against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in the province of Idlib. So, Washington likely rushed to weaponize the al-Qaeda propaganda to oppose the defeat of the terrorist group in Syria.

Comment: See also: No legal basis for Mattis claim that US military is authorized to operate in Syria

More on Mattis's comments, from RT:

Washington has no evidence that the chemical agent sarin has ever been used by the Syrian government, Pentagon chief James Mattis has admitted. It did not stop him from still being concerned about Assad, though.

"We do not have evidence of it," the US Defense Secretary told journalists, referring to the alleged use of sarin nerve agent by Syrian government forces. He said the only information the US has been able to obtain so far, comes from "other groups on the ground, NGOs, fighters on the ground" and just "people who claim it's been used."

"We are looking for evidence of it," Mattis said. He then went on to accuse the Syrian government of a number of offenses and covert practices without substantiating his allegations with proof. He claimed that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his supporters "used denial and deceit to hide their outlaw actions," but the Pentagon chief did not provide any specific details.

Mattis also said that it's "clear" that Damascus used chlorine gas in the Syrian conflict, but as before, did not offer any evidence. Instead, he went on to say the US is now "even more concerned about the possibility of sarin use." The US Defense Secretary also warned that the Syrian government "would be ill-advised to go back to violating the chemical [weapons] convention," and spoke about the US "response."