Nerve gas attacks push US to arm Syria rebellion

President Barack Obama has decided to arm Syrian rebels but US officials are still grappling with what to send the opposition forces and how to ensure it stays out of the hands of extremists battling for control of Syria.

The White House announced it had conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime used nerve gas against opposition forces. President Obama has said chemical weapons crossed a “red line,” suggesting greater American intervention.

While a small percentage of the 93,000 people reportedly killed in Syria are said to have died from chemical weapons – US intelligence puts the number at 100 to 150 – the White House views the deployment of weapons of mass destruction as flouting international norms. Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said the multiple chemical weapons attacks gave greater urgency to the situation.

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“Suffice it to say this is going to be different in both scope and scale in terms of what we are providing,” Mr Rhodes said. But US would make specific determinations “on our own timeline”.

David Cameron has said there is credible evidence of “multiple attacks” using chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The Prime Minister said the UK believes the “scale of use is sanctioned and ordered by the Assad regime” but also indicated that Islamist extremists in the opposition movement had also attempted to acquire chemical weapons for probable use in Syria.

He restated the Government’s position that no decision had been taken to arm moderate rebels opposed to Assad, but added that he was a “brutal dictator who is using chemical weapons under our nose”.

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The Obama administration could give the rebels a range of weapons, including small arms, assault rifles, shoulder-fired remote-propelled grenades and other anti-tank missiles. The opposition forces could operate most of that equipment without significant training.

President Obama’s opposition to sending American troops into Syria makes it less likely the US will provide sophisticated arms or anti-aircraft weapons that would require extensive training. Officials are also worried about high-powered weapons ending up in the hands of terrorist groups. Hezbollah fighters are among those backing Assad’s armed forces, and extremists linked to al-Qaida back the rebellion.

President Obama has resisted arming the rebels until now. The proponents of more aggressive action, including Secretary of State John Kerry, appeared to have won out over those wary of sending weapons and ammunition into the war zone.

The US has made no decision on operating a no-fly zone over Syria.

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US intelligence assessments show that Assad has used chemical weapons, including sarin, on a small scale multiple times in the last year, killing an estimated 100 to 150 people. The US believes only Assad has chemical weapons and does not believe rebel forces could have used them.

Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: “The international community has made clear that any use of chemical weapons is completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law.”

He welcomed the “clear US statement” and called on Syria to grant access to UN monitors.

President Obama will discuss the chemical weapons assessments, along with broader problems in Syria, during the summit of eight leading industrial nations next week in Northern Ireland.

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Among those in attendance will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of Assad’s most powerful backers. Mr Putin’s foreign affairs adviser said Moscow was not convinced with Washington’s claims.

Alexey Pushkov, chairman of Russia’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, wrote on Twitter that the US had faked its evidence and was going down the same road as George Bush, who justified the invasion of Iraq by saying Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, which were never found.

The Syrian government dismissed the US claims it used chemical weapons as “full of lies.”