Sunday, May 5, 2013

Securing Syria's chemical arms would carry huge risks

Securing Syria's chemical arms would carry huge risks: A military mission to secure Syria's chemical arsenal would require a large ground force and pose huge risks, with the outcome hinging on the quality of Western intelligence, experts say.

With the Syrian regime suspected of using chemical agents against rebels, US and Western military commanders are planning for a possible worst-case scenario in which an international force would move in to neutralize the lethal weapons.

Any attempt to seize control of chemical agents in Syria would depend on the intelligence gathered by foreign spy services, which have struggled at times to track the Damascus regime's stockpiles.