Leaked
emails have allegedly proved that the White House gave the green light
to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that could be blamed on Assad's
regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated
country.
A report released on Monday contains an
email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor
Britam Defence where a scheme 'approved by Washington' is outlined
explaining that Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical
weapons.
Barack Obama made it clear
to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that the U.S. would not
tolerate Syria using chemical weapons against its own people.
According
to Infowars.com, the December 25 email was sent from Britam's Business
Development Director David Goulding to company founder Philip Doughty.
It
reads: 'Phil... We’ve got a new offer. It’s about Syria again. Qataris
propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by
Washington.
'We’ll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have.
'They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.
'Frankly, I don’t think it’s a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?
'Kind regards, David.'
Britam Defence had not yet returned a request for comment to MailOnline.
The
emails were released by a Malaysian hacker who also obtained senior
executives resumés and copies of passports via an unprotected company
server, according to Cyber War News.
Dave
Goulding's Linkedin profile lists him as Business Development Director
at Britam Defence Ltd in Security and Investigations. A business
networking profile for Phil Doughty lists him as Chief Operationg
Officer for Britam, United Arab Emirates, Security and Investigations.
The
U.S. State Department had not returned a request for comment on the
alleged emails to MailOnline today at time of publication.
However the use of chemical warfare was raised at a press briefing in D.C. on January 28.
A
spokesman said that the U.S. joined the international community in
'setting common redlines about the consequences of using chemical
weapons'.
A leaked U.S. government
cable revealed that the Syrian army more than likely had used chemical
weapons during an attack in the city of Homs in December.
The
document, revealed in The Cable, revealed the findings of an
investigation by Scott Frederic Kilner, the U.S. consul general in
Istanbul, into accusations that the Syrian army used chemical weapons in
the December 23 attack.
An Obama
administration official who had access to the document was reported as
saying: 'We can't definitely say 100 per cent, but Syrian contacts made a
compelling case that Agent 15 was used in Homs on Dec. 23.'
Mr
Kilner's investigation included interviews with civilians, doctors, and
rebels present during the attack, as well as the former general and
head of the Syrian WMD program, Mustafa al-Sheikh.
Dr.
Nashwan Abu Abdo, a neurologist in Homs, is certain chemical weapons
were used. He told The Cable: 'It was a chemical weapon, we are sure of
that, because tear gas can't cause the death of people.'
Eye
witness accounts from the investigation revealed that a tank launched
chemical weapons and caused people exposed to them to suffer nausea,
vomiting, abdominal pain, delirium, seizures, and respiratory distress.
The
symptoms suggest that the weaponized compound Agent-15 was responsible.
Syria denied using chemical weapons and said it would never use them
against citizens.
Speaking to
Pentagon reporters at the time, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said his
biggest concern was how the U.S. and allies would secure the chemical
and biological weapons sites scattered across Syria and ensure the
components don't end up in the wrong hands if the regime falls,
particularly under violent conditions.
Government
forces and rebels in Syria have both been accused by human rights
groups of carrying out brutal warfare in the 22-month-old conflict,
which has claimed more than 60,000 lives.
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