rashbre central: risk 5?

Monday 16 April 2018

risk 5?


I wasn't going to delve further into the recent missile attacks on Syrian targets, but then this picture popped up in the Financial Times, via Associated Press. It's the aftermath of the attack on the Damascus target. It's the location I predicted would be a target in my earlier post, with a specific block targeted by the missiles.

I compared it with a close-up of my earlier picture and it definitely the same location, albeit rotated around 90 degrees. Use the roundabout for orientation.

The whole zone is home to the HIAST university and the targeted block across the street is separately designated as Centre D'Etudes et de Recherches Scientifiques (CERS) or, as the Americans refer to it, Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC). Since around 2011 this has been quoted as a possible place for chemical weapon research and warhead loading.

Since it's destruction, there's been footage of people walking around the wreckage; no-one is wearing HAZMAT suits, so I assume it's been deemed toxically safe. It's also one building complex out of several at the site. Why this one? It seems fairly surprising that a chemical facility creating dangerous substances wouldn't have security cordons? And what about the wider site? If I wanted to hide something, maybe I'd pick an underground facility, or one away from everyone else? Perhaps like the one leading out at the back of this complex? Or out in the desert instead of adjacent to housing?

And thereby the challenge. Various press sources look at all of this, but the official Pentagon statements are the ones getting quoted.

Along the lines that this location could be a source of banned chemical research and fancy creation of warheads.

I'm still wondering about the reports of terrible chlorine and organophosphates being used.

This would imply other evil pragmatic sources. Barbaric but easier to assemble chlorine in barrel bombs and repurposing concentrated and accelerated forms of insecticides.

But that wouldn't serve the talk show host assisted, so-called president's agenda. And I can't see how this is solving seven years of Syrian crisis.

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