The Pentagon claimed on Thursday that the Syrian government remains able to conduct chemical attacks, though “only at a limited level”.
General Kenneth McKenzie, director of the US military’s Joint Staff, said Damascus retains a “residual” chemical capability at a variety of sites across the country.
“They will have the ability to conduct limited attacks in the future,” McKenzie told Pentagon reporters.
“However as they contemplate the dynamics of conducting those attacks, they have to look over their shoulder and be worried that we are looking at them, and we will have the ability to strike them again should it be necessary.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said there was no indication the Assad regime was preparing to launch another chemical weapons attack.
“Assad must know the world will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances,” she said.
On April 13, the US, Britain and France launched an aggression on Syria in what they said it was in response to an alleged chemical attack in Douma.
The three-star general added the Syrian government had now returned to a “state of normalcy.”
“I don’t think we sought to change the strategic balance of the Syria conflict with those strikes. We sought to send a lesson that it’s bad practice to gas women and children,” McKenzie said.
Source: AFP
