29-Apr-13: If this is what they do to fellow citizens. imagine what Syria and other clients of the Iranians plan for their enemies

Click to view the video interview

Zaher Al-Saket used to be a brigadier general in the Syrian military, and head of chemical warfare for the Syrian army's fifth division. Now he's on the run and living in exile.

Presumably aware of what it means to be one of those who prop up a thoroughly rotten regime that has already murdered and maimed tens of thousands of its own citizens, he defected and gives interviews about what he knows.

Two days ago, Al-Saket spoke on the Dubai-based pan-Arab television network Al-Arabiya TV, and made some black and white disclosures [translated to English thanks to MEMRI] that no responsible leaders in this dangerous part of the world can afford to ignore.

Some highlights - the text is entirely verbatim:

• There are three types of chemical weapons: harassing chemical agents, incapacitating agents, and lethal agents. When the demonstrations started, the [Bashar Al-Assad] regime used harassing agents, like any country in the world using tear gas to disperse demonstrations. As for incapacitating and lethal chemical agents - the regime used incapacitating agents at first. But when the world remained silent about this, and the regime thought that the international community did not care, it used lethal [chemical] weapons in more than 13 locations. The last incident was in Utaybah. 
• The regime used sarin gas on three occasions, and I am increasingly afraid that they will use agents more powerful than sarin. They have VX gas and mustard gas, also known as iprit.
• The regime's accusation that the opposition has used chemical weapons is the most compelling proof that the regime itself has used them, because the opposition does not have the means to use chemical weapons. 
• The means of using chemical weapons are known to the whole world: airplanes, missiles, helicopters, and artillery. Worse still, this regime has binary chemical weapons. 
• The world must understand that there are binary chemical weapons in Syria, and [Bashar Al-Assad] will use them against his people, because he is the Nero of our age.
• Binary chemical weapons consist of two non-toxic agents, which are placed in incubators that are loaded onto artillery shells. Then, the shells are launched, and when the two agents mix, a toxic substance is formed.
• [The Syrian Al Assad regime] has a complete arsenal of chemical weapons. Some came from the former USSR, and some are being manufactured right now.
• Iranian experts are working with Syrian officers in the Mazzeh military airport. They manufacture incubators for the toxic substances, which will be loaded onto warheads carried by airplanes. When these warheads hit the ground, they release a toxic cloud.
• I was given an order to use these substances, but I replaced them with liquid bleach. This was the reason for my defection from Al-Assad's army.
• In Utaybah, near the Damascus international airport, the regime used sarin gas three times, because it is close to the airport. The next time chemical weapons were used was in Khan Al-Assal. 
• The chemical weapons are kept in heavily fortified places in the mountains. I know exactly where they are... The chemical weapons are kept in several places: In Aleppo, in the Hama region, in Damascus, and in Latakia. The chemical weapons are there."

Eyewitness testimony like this notwithstanding, US president Obama said this week [BBC] that

there was "some evidence that chemical weapons have been used on the population in Syria, these are preliminary assessments, they're based on our intelligence gathering. "We have varying degrees of confidence about the actual use, there's a range of questions about how, when, where these weapons have been used," he said. Mr Obama insisted more evidence was still needed and that there would be a "vigorous investigation".

Does testimony by senior military officers who actually did what is suspected count in Washington?

This past Friday, meanwhile,

Ban Ki-moon, UN secretary-general, on Friday wrote to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with a new request for access to investigators inside the war-torn country... Syria, however, has still not allowed a team of experts into the country because [etc - deleted because details of the nonsense are unimportant and variable] while the UN chief is urging the Syrian government to accept an expanded UN probe... [Al Jazeera]

Imagine how many more deaths are likely to happen while this genteel UN versus Syria repartee goes on.