The New York Times: Worst Chemical Attack in Years in Syria; US Blames Assad

A few days after the United States announced that it would not seek removal of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, a chemical weapon attack was launched against a rebel stronghold in Idlib Province, killing dozens and injuring more than 250. A nerve agent is suspected with images of people shaking or paralyzed, gasping for air, transmitted by global media. “A senior State Department official said the attack appeared to be a war crime and called on Russia and Iran to restrain the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria from carrying out further chemical strikes,” reports the New York Times. Shortly after the chemical attack, an airstrike hit a clinic treating victims. A US-Russian deal had required Syria to give up chemical weapons after a 2013 attack, but accountability in the war-torn country was limited. The UN Security Council meets today to discuss the war crime, and international donors will hesitate to donate billions of dollars for rebuilding the country under its current dictator. The brutal civil war is behind a massive humanitarian and refugee crisis, with 6 million internally displaced and 5 million people having left Syria altogether. – YaleGlobal