Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, suggested that Russia was a possible source of the chemical weapons used in Syria.

The exchange came nearly two hours into the day's testimony, which we covered more fully here. It was a seemingly off-handed observance by the secretary, one which we at first thought referred to chemical weapons at large, not just in Syria. But prompted by by BuzzFeed's Rosie Gray, we went back to the clip.

Rep. Joe Wilson: Mr. Secretary, I don't mean to be rude, but where did the chemical weapons come from?

Hagel: Well, there's no secret that the Assad regime has had chemical weapons — significant stockpiles of chemical weapons …

Wilson: (interrupting) … from a particular country?

Hagel: Well, the Russians supply them, others are supplying them with those chemical weapons. They make some themselves.

There's wiggle room in that statement, but the implication is clear upon review. Russia may have been the source of the gas that killed over 1,000 Syrians.

There's history to back it up. The alliance between Russia and Syria is long-standing, with the former providing the latter with arms throughout its two-year-old civil war. And Russia has a long history of the production of chemical weapons, as noted by the Federation of American Scientists. (The organization also outlines those Syria might have at hand.)

Russia, as reported by the Kremlin-sponsored network RT, has suggested that the August 21 attack at issue during the debate in Washington may have been the work of Syrian rebels. That strongly contradicts the evidence referred to by the Obama administration and, specifically, by Secretary of State John Kerry during his appearances on Capitol Hill.

Hagel's assertion comes at a particularly tricky time for his boss. The president is on his way to Russia to attend the G20 economic summit, but will not have a unilateral meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in part due to that country's embrace of NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Putin has consistently argued against intervention in Syria, even suggesting he might send delegates to Washington to argue against the authorization Obama is seeking.

We've reached out to a Defense Department spokesperson for response on Hagel's remarks; we'll update the story when we get one.

 

-or-?

 

Satellite Photos Support Testimony That Iraqi WMD Went to Syria

 

http://pjmedia.com/blog/satellite-photos-support-testimony-that-iraqi-wmd-went-to-syria/

 

There really were WMDs in Iraq, which justified the Iraq war. They were secretly moved right before the Iraq war started. An unholy triangle existed between Iraq’s Sadaam, Russia, and Syria.

 

Reports available from Syrians and Iraqis themselves. (Read whatever selections you wish – all or some):

 

References:

(1) http://www.2la.org/syria/iraq-wmd.php

http://www.2la.org/syria/wmd.html  for bigger images of the WMD storage

 

Syria a State of Terror

 

A senior Syrian journalist reports Iraq WMD located in three Syrian sites

06 January, 2004

AFP

 

Nizar Nayuf (Nayyouf-Nayyuf), a Syrian journalist who recently defected from Syria to Western Europe and is known for bravely challenging the Syrian regime, said in a letter Monday, January 5, to Dutch newspaper “De Telegraaf,” that he knows the three sites where Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are kept. The storage places are:

-1- Tunnels dug under the town of al-Baida near the city of Hama in northern Syria. These tunnels are an integral part of an underground factory, built by the North Koreans, for producing Syrian Scud missiles. Iraqi chemical weapons and long-range missiles are stored in these tunnels.

-2- The village of Tal Snan, north of the town of Salamija, where there is a big Syrian air force camp. Vital parts of Iraq’s WMD are stored there.

-3-. The city of Sjinsjar on the Syrian border with the Lebanon, south of Homs city.

Nayouf writes that the transfer of Iraqi WMD to Syria was organized by the commanders of Saddam Hussein’s Special Republican Guard, including General Shalish, with the help of Assif Shoakat , Bashar Assad’s cousin. Shoakat is the CEO of Bhaha, an import/export company owned by the Assad family.

 

In February 2003, a month before America’s invasion in Iraq, very few are aware about the efforts to bring the Weapons of Mass Destruction from Iraq to Syria, and the personal involvement of Bashar Assad and his family in the operation.

Nayouf, who has won prizes for journalistic integrity, says he wrote his letter because he has terminal cancer.

Click here for Satellite Images of the Syrian-Iraq’s WMD Locations

 

First Message from the Syrian source to Nizar Nayouf

 

“Dear Nizar.

We received confirmations that the Iraqi weapons, which were moved to Syria by the help of General Zoul-Himla Chalich are now hidden in three places inside Syria:

 

First place: a tunnel dug in the mountain close to the Al-Baïdah village, which is roughly two kilometers from Misyaf village. This place is under the 489 Safety cipher Documents’ office control .

 

Second place: the factory of the Air Armed Forces in the village of Tal Sinan, between the town of Hama and Salamiyyah. This factory is under the Air Force control.

 

Third place: the location of Shinsar, 40 kilometers south of Homs, two kilometers east of the Homs – Damascus road. There are underground tunnels there, controlled by Brigade 661 of the armed air Forces. It is a Brigade of air Patrol. The tunnels are several tens of meters deep.

 

The weapons were transported in large wooden cases and barrels, under the supervision of the General Zoul-Himla Chalich and the son of his brother Assef, who works at Al-Bachaer company.

 

The company is owned by the Assad family and has offices in Beirut, Damascus and Baghdad.

 

This company also undertook the illegal Iraqi oil importation in Syria, and supplied weapons to Saddam. I will try to send you all the new information as i get .

 

Take care and be safe.”

original letter:

 

 

 

Second Message to Nizar Nayuf

 

“Dear Nizar.

I have sent you another chart of the positions which tells where the weapons which were sent from Iraq into Syria, are hidden. Because the preceding chart that I sent you earlier is not clear.

Until now, the authorities in Syria did not worry of what was being published by the Dutch television news about this subject.

New information: The weapons were evacuated by the means of ambulances. Mohammed Mansoura also took part in the operation.

There are other serious, detailed pieces of information concerning the money of Saddam being moved into Syria and into Lebanon and those who took part in moving it – Syrians and Lebanese.Also there are more details about the assassination of the General Moustapha Tajer which took place last summer.

Take care of yourself.

Damascus, January 7, 2004.”

original letter:

 

 

 

 

(2) http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/3/2/230625.shtml

Moscow Moved Weapons to Syria and Lebanon

Russia Moved Iraqi WMD

Charles R. Smith
Thursday, March 3, 2005

 

According to a former top Bush administration official, Russian special forces teams moved weapons of mass destruction out of Iraq to Syria.

“I am absolutely sure that Russian Spetsnatz units moved WMD out of Iraq before the war,” stated John Shaw, the former deputy undersecretary for international technology security.

 

According to Shaw, Russian units hid Saddam’s arsenal inside Syria and in Lebanon’s Bekka valley.

 

“While in Iraq I uncovered detailed information that Spetsnatz units shredded records and moved all WMD and specified advanced munitions out of Iraq to Syria and Lebanon,” stated Shaw during an exclusive interview.

 

“I received information from several sources naming the exact Russian units, what they took and where they took both WMD materials and conventional explosives. Moscow made a 2001 agreement with Saddam Hussein to clear up all Russian involvement in WMD systems in Iraq,” stated Shaw.

 

Shaw’s assertions match the information provided by U.S. military forces that satellite surveillance showed extensive large-vehicle traffic crossing the Syrian border prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

 

Shaw’s information also backs allegations by a wide variety of sources of Russia’s direct involvement in Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program. One U.N. bioterrorism expert announced that Russia has been Iraq’s “main supplier of the materials and know-how to weaponize anthrax, botulism and smallpox.”

 

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Robert Goldberg cited former U.N. weapons inspector Richard Spertzel, who stated that Moscow supplied Baghdad with fermentation equipment to produce biotoxins.