News Release

Syria HAS Admitted Chemical Weapons; But Israel Hasn’t Admitted Nuclear Weapons

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SAM HUSSEINI, samhusseini at gmail.com, @samhusseini
Communications director for the Institute for Public Accuracy, Husseini said today: “Much of the political class in Washington is now claiming, in the words of the Los Angeles Times: ‘Syria has never publicly acknowledged possessing chemical weapons.’ This is false. For example, see the piece: “Syria Admits to Having Chemical Weapons” from 2012 in the American Interest.

“What hasn’t been admitted by any U.S. administration is that Israel has a massive nuclear weapons arsenal. For example, when President Obama was asked by Helen Thomas at his first news conference if he knew of any country in the Mideast that had nuclear weapons, he claimed he didn’t want to ‘speculate.’ This is not a credible position.” See from The Real News “Helen Thomas on her one question for Obama.”

“It’s especially useful for proponents of war to claim that Syria only now admitted it has chemical weapons because it seemingly seeks to justify that the administrations threatened using force against Syria. But as Josh Holland recently noted: “Article 2 of the United Nations Charter not only bars member states from using force, except in self-defense or in conjunction with the international community, it also prohibits states from threatening to use force.”

“So it’s not really ‘diplomacy’ to threaten a country, unless one views diplomacy as war by other means. It would be real diplomacy to get Syria, Israel and other states in the region to agree to dismantle their weapons of mass destruction. In fact, Stephen Zunes reports that’s exactly what Syria proposed at the UN in 2007 when it held a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council, but the U.S. blocked it.” See: “U.S. and Chemical Weapons: ‘No Leg to Stand On.’

“The U.S. government — given its actions in Iraq, Libya and Iran — seems intent on making Israel the sole possessor of WMDs in the region.” Husseini wrote the piece “The Absurd U.S. Stance on Israel’s Nukes: A Video Sampling of Denial.”