Time: Why Would Assad Want to Use Chemical Weapons At All?

Local Editor

The British Time Magazine, in its issue published on Thursday, believed that Syrian President Bashar Assad has no interest in using chemical weapons whether on insurgents or civilians.

"It would seem logical that President Bashar Assad would try to avoid provoking the West into agreeing on a coordinated assault against his forces," the magazine reported.

"Why would Assad want to use them [chemical weapons] at all? Chemical weapons, at least in small quantities, would seem redundant in the conflict, since Assad's jets have effectively pummeled rebel areas for more than two years, inflicting crippling losses," it added.

Moreover, the article issued stressed that Syria's closest international ally Russia is a prominent signatory to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, and therefore there is no sense that President Assad would resort to such drastic measures.

"Russia was the country which had the most impact on Assad in terms of whether he would use chemical weapons or not," the Time quoted Dina Esfandiary, research associate in the nonproliferation and disarmament program at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), as saying.

"Assad would seem to have little gain by deploying them now, especially at a time when his forces are gaining ground. Perhaps because it makes little obvious sense, US and British officials seem reluctant to rush to judgment, especially since false information about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction led the US and Britain to invade Iraq in 2003. In fact, Saddam had none," the reporter mentioned.

The article further argued that under the terms of the international Chemical Weapons Convention, there is no legal obligation for the world to intervene to stop their use, and therefore any foreign intervention, whatever the type, is unsolicited.

Source: Time Magazine, edited by website team