Poll of the Day > Russia knew in advance that Syria would be dropping chemical weapons

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http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5b977d0bcef445529cdb2a6a8e6f8ea1/senior-us-official-says-us-has-concluded-russia-knew
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lol
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Your source lists no details. Not the name of the official, any evidence supporting the US official's conclusion (or even a rationale for the conclusion), etc. I'm not even sure if I'm looking at the real AP or somebody trying to spoof them.
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Everyone everywhere knew weapons would be dropped on the citizenry, y'know, like they have been since the regime started...
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Lokarin posted...

Everyone everywhere knew weapons would be dropped on the citizenry, y'know, like they have been since the regime started...

Chemical weapons, not just normal ones. And after the first attack, they seemed to have complied with orders from the international community.
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So is murder only illegal when it's by chemical or biological weapons? Aren't bombs made of chemicals to be semantic? Firing squads must use vegan bullets?
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Lokarin posted...

So is murder only illegal when it's by chemical or biological weapons? Aren't bombs made of chemicals to be semantic? Firing squads must use vegan bullets?

Chemical weapons were outlawed under the Geneva Protocol, conventional weapons were not.
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Doesn't that only apply to war, not hitting your own people?
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Lokarin posted...

Doesn't that only apply to war, not hitting your own people?

This is a war.
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Zeus posted...

Lokarin posted...

Doesn't that only apply to war, not hitting your own people?

This is a war.

Are we talking about the same thing? Didn't Assad chemical weapon his own people?
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Lokarin posted...

Zeus posted...

Lokarin posted...

Doesn't that only apply to war, not hitting your own people?

This is a war.

Are we talking about the same thing? Didn't Assad chemical weapon his own people?

It's also a civil war.

Fyi, chemical weapons are ones where their primary damage source is chemical reaction with the target.
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But we gas our dissidents... and that's legal.
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Lokarin posted...

Zeus posted...

Lokarin posted...

Doesn't that only apply to war, not hitting your own people?

This is a war.

Are we talking about the same thing? Didn't Assad chemical weapon his own people?

Many of the enemy combatants are, in a sense, "his own people." However, some civilians were caught up in the strike as well.

Lokarin posted...

But we gas our dissidents... and that's legal.

We actually don't. Rioters are occasionally teargassed, but that's not a lethal or long-term harm chemical outlawed anywhere. Compare that to sarin gas where, even if you survive, you're left with permanent damage.

Even among regimes which imprison dissidents, it's very rare for them to be gassed.
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Well, I meant along the lines of death sentence executions.

What I'm trying to get at, albeit inarticulately, is he's been blowing people up for a long time - why get butthurt over a chemical attack now?
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Lokarin posted...

Well, I meant along the lines of death sentence executions.

Wait, so you're trying to compare criminals to dissidents? What? Seriously, wtf? And no, we don't even use gas any more. That was phased out for the electric chair and lethal injection.

Lokarin posted...

What I'm trying to get at, albeit inarticulately, is he's been blowing people up for a long time - why get butthurt over a chemical attack now?

Because one is just warfare and the other is a crime against humanity almost universally condemned by every nation. But, for added context, shooting somebody in the head is bad. Torturing them to death through gruesome means over the course of weeks is worse.
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