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Chemical Inspectors Set to Collect Samples in Douma, Syria

by VOA News

   Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
   Weapons have arrived in Syria and are scheduled to begin collecting
   samples Saturday in Douma, the site of the recent alleged chemical
   weapons attack blamed on the forces of Syrian President Bashar
   al-Assad.

   While the OPCW inspectors will collect environmental samples, like
   soil, at the site and biomedical samples, including blood from victims,
   that will be sent to the group's laboratories, the organization will
   not, however, make a decision about who is responsible for the attack.
   OPCW will only determine if there was a chemical attack.

   At least 40 people were killed and hundreds sickened in last week's
   attack in Douma, in eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus. Syria
   has denied using chemical weapons.

   NBC News has reported the United States government has received blood
   and urine samples from the scene that have tested positive for chemical
   weapons.

   After a Russian warning that a military conflict could erupt with the
   United States over Syria, President Donald Trump convened his National
   Security Council to discuss the U.S. response to the recent alleged
   chemical weapons attack blamed on the forces of Syrian President Bashar
   al-Assad.

   "No final decision has been made," White House Press Secretary Sarah
   Huckabee Sander said Thursday in a statement. "We are continuing to
   asses intelligence and are engaged in conversations with our partners
   and allies."

   Before meeting with his top security and military advisers, President
   Trump said a decision will be "made fairly soon."

   During an afternoon event in the White House Rose Garden Thursday at
   which Trump touted an increased defense budget, the president declared
   that "we're going to have the strongest military we've ever had and can
   you think of a better time to have it? Right? This is when we need it."
   There has been speculation that a U.S.-led strike conducted with
   several allies on multiple Syrian targets could be imminent. Trump has
   publicly warned Russia "missiles will be coming to Syria" before
   insisting on Twitter that he "never said when an attack on Syria would
   take place."
   Russia calls for restraint
   Russia has called on all parties involved in Syria to refrain from
   actions that could destabilize the region.

   "We hope that there will be no point of no return; that the U.S. and
   their allies will refrain from military action against a sovereign
   state. You understand that the danger of escalation is higher than
   simply just Syria because our military is there on the invitation of
   the Syrian government," said Russia's ambassador to the United Nations,
   Vassily Nebenzia.

   Asked about the possibility of war between the U.S. and Russia,
   Nebenzia said, "We cannot exclude any possibilities, unfortunately,
   because we saw messages coming from Washington, they were very
   bellicose. They know we are there. I wish there was dialogue through
   appropriate channels to avert any dangerous development."
   U.S. officials are acknowledging the risk of retaliation drawing
   Washington and Moscow -- both of which have troops in Syria -- into
   direct military conflict.
   "We're trying to stop the murder of innocent people," U.S. Defense
   Secretary Jim Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee on
   Thursday. "But on a strategic level, is how do we keep this from
   escalating out of control--if you get my drift on that."
   According to Atlantic Council Resident Senior Fellow Aaron Stein, "it's
   very clear that the U.S., the French and the British will strike."
   Stein predicted in an interview on Thursday with VOA's Russian Service
   that "it's probably coming in the next couple of days and will probably
   last just a night."
   In Moscow, political and military leaders are likely asking themselves
   "what does the [U.S.] president want, what is he trying to get the
   Syrians to do or not do and what is he trying to get the Russians to do
   or not do?" according to Yuval Weber, a global fellow at the Wilson
   Center's Kennan Institute.
   "That's essentially where we get the chances for miscalculation and
   actual seriously conflict," Weber, also an assistant professor at
   Russia's National Research University - Higher School of Economics,
   tells VOA's Russian Service.

   UN Security Council meeting
   The Russians, backers of Assad's government, have requested the United
   Nations Security Council meet on Friday to discuss Syria and that
   Secretary General Antonio Guterres brief the diplomats.
   At least 40 people were killed and hundreds sickened in last Saturday's
   attack in the town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of
   Damascus. Syria has denied using chemical weapons.

   NBC News reports the United States government has received blood and
   urine samples from the scene that have tested positive for chemical
   weapons.

   [Steve Herman at the White House, Margaret Besheer at the United
   Nations, Jeff Seldin at the Pentagon and VOA Russian service's Iuliia
   Alieva contributed to this report ]