(Newser)
–
Over the past few months, Syria's Bashar al-Assad has been trying to buy the ingredients to make nerve agents and expand his chemical arsenal, reports Wired. The US and other nations have been able to block many sales, but it's still causing a major headache for the international community, say US officials. Despite the ongoing civil war, "business is continuing as usual" for the regime, says one official. "They've been busy little bees."
Syria already has a good supply of chemical weapons, and in July Assad threatened to use them against "external" forces if necessary. That threat seems to have abated, along with talk of direct US intervention, but the new push to increase the arsenal is troubling. Even if Assad's regime falls without using them, it will likely take years to get rid of the 25 or so sites where he's storing the ingredients he already has. Just look at Iraq. Click to read the full article.
