# Syria agrees to give up control of chemical weapons. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 10, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493 "2013-09-10T12:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/1 "2013-09-10T12:40:38Z")
Wonderful news this early morning. 😃😃 The entire world is a little bit safer now that theres no need to bomb Syria. > **[President Obama asks Congress to delay Syria strike vote | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/10/politics/us-syria-obama-solutions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)** > > Syria chemical weapons: While light on details, a Russian proposal for Syria to turn over chemical weapons shifts the war debate. > [@](#): > > Syria has accepted a Russian proposal aimed at averting a U.S. military strike, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported Tuesday. > > After “a very fruitful round of talks” with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday, “we agreed to the Russian initiative,” Syrian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Walid Moallem was quoted as saying. > > China also said it welcomes and supports the proposal, the Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said Tuesday. > > Like Russia, China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and has used its veto power to block some resolutions against Syria. > > The proposal – to put the country’s chemical weapons sites under international control – stemmed from off-the-cuff remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/2 "2013-09-10T12:48:59Z")
A positive turn of events. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/3 "2013-09-10T13:09:38Z")
The devil will be in the details, but there’s reason to feel optimistic. Has McCain issued a statement yet? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/4 "2013-09-10T13:22:41Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > The devil will be in the details, but there’s reason to feel optimistic. Exactly. This could be a rope-a-dope designed to buy more time before possible airstrikes. I’m reminded of the somewhat silly and desperate response to international demands for a ceasefire in Libya, with Qaddafi replying that they _were_ observing a ceasefire but with absolutely no change in his troops behavior. On the other hand, it may be a genuine offer. Or something in between, where they will drag their feet for weeks or months before letting inspectors in and removing _most_ (but not all) of their chem stock. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/5 "2013-09-10T13:32:24Z")
Great now the UN will have a chemical weapons capability! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/6 "2013-09-10T14:18:37Z")
Who is going to get to control the weapons. Ohh Iraq and Russia will take care of them. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/7 "2013-09-10T15:06:30Z")
I’m skeptical that this is anything but a stalling tactic. Still, if it avoids moronic & pointless airstrikes, then it’s a great development. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/8 "2013-09-10T15:10:52Z")
It’s a trap! Syria will give up a massive amount of chemical weapons for show and keep just enough to selectively use so that they can blame the future attacks on outside terrorist groups. Thus allowing them to keep their air force and heavy guns intact for use against the rebels. They know if they don’t do something like this we are going to hammer them and give the rebel forces an opening. Assad will do anything to stay in power at this point. Sad fact is this tactic will most likely work. Welcome to muddle east politics Mr. President. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/9 "2013-09-10T15:33:05Z")
Mr. Kerry will either be considered to be a genius or a fool when this all plays out. This is a positive development. I have never seen such opposition to a war. Not even the second Iraq War. Every single person I know, whether liberal, conservative, libertarian, green, or moderate, they all agree that we shouldn’t go to war in Syria. Will the level of disapproval from the electorate make any difference to those who wield the lever of power? Time will tell. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/10 "2013-09-10T15:59:32Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Mr. Kerry will either be considered to be a genius or a fool when this all plays out. > This is a positive development. I have never seen such opposition to a war. > Not even the second Iraq War. Every single person I know, whether liberal, conservative, libertarian, green, or moderate, they all agree that we shouldn’t go to war in Syria. It really is surprising how overwhelmingly one-sided public sentiment is. John McCain is pretty much Obama’s only friend in this. I’m still trying to figure out how he managed to get Boenher & Pelosi on his side, altho I’ve noticed neither has been very vocal lately. Kerry is still playing the loyal minion, but aside from them, the pro-war camp appears rather thinly-populated. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/11 "2013-09-10T17:59:40Z")
My immediate thought was - is Syria also promising to stop making any more chemical weapons? I am no chemist and have no cites, but I thought Sarin was relatively easy to make. So they hand over all the chemical weapons they currently have; now what? They continue bombing the bejeezus out of the rebels with conventional weapons while they secretly make more chemical weapons. Seems to me that any way you look at it this is definitely a very positive development for the Syrian regime. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/12 "2013-09-10T18:23:29Z")
I don’t think Kerry deserves any credit for this. He was saying the only thing that could help Syria was something impossible like turning over all their chemical weapons in a week. He didn’t think this was an actual possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/13 "2013-09-10T18:50:41Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > It’s a trap! Syria will give up a massive amount of chemical weapons for show and keep just enough to selectively use so that they can blame the future attacks on outside terrorist groups. > [@Canadjun](#): > > So they hand over all the chemical weapons they currently have; now what? They continue bombing the bejeezus out of the rebels with conventional weapons while they secretly make more chemical weapons. Seems to me that any way you look at it this is definitely a very positive development for the Syrian regime. I would suspect that any chemical weapons activity in Syria after the “surrender” would be a huge diplomatic black eye and embarrassment for Russia and a loss of any barrier to western strikes for Syria. It would make much more sense for Russia to legitimately lead the UN effort to take and destroy the chemical weapons while they continue to send conventional weapons to Assad. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/14 "2013-09-10T18:55:34Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out how he managed to get Boenher & Pelosi on his side I read in a news article that Pelosi said most of the calls and emails she is getting are against striking Syria, “but they don’t know what I know.” So apparantly there are very good reasons. Reasons we don’t need to know about. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/15 "2013-09-10T19:16:55Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I would suspect that any chemical weapons activity in Syria after the “surrender” would be a huge diplomatic black eye and embarrassment for Russia and a loss of any barrier to western strikes for Syria. It would make much more sense for Russia to legitimately lead the UN effort to take and destroy the chemical weapons while they continue to send conventional weapons to Assad. No, Assad is already and still claiming that the rebels released the gas in order to provoke the west into intervening; that has been his stance all along. If they give up the weapons and then only use them sporadically they will claim that the rebels still have them because they gave theirs up and are now defenseless against the religious extremist. It’s just a ploy to stay in power now and appear to be a reasonable guy while he continues to paint his adversaries as religious extremist. It’s a tactic of repeating a lie long enough that people will start to believe it and start quoting the original lie as fact. Sort of what Fox News does. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/16 "2013-09-10T19:23:47Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > If they give up the weapons and then only use them sporadically they will claim that the rebels still have them because they gave theirs up and are now defenseless against the religious extremist. Yeah, no one believes that story from Assad now and no one is going to believe it then either. Putin undoubtedly knows this even if Assad doesn’t (and Assad probably knows it as well). The only way anyone is going to consider buying “extremist rebels did it!” is if the only people gassed are loyalist forces. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/17 "2013-09-10T19:33:50Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > This is a positive development. I have never seen such opposition to a war. > Not even the second Iraq War. Every single person I know, whether liberal, conservative, libertarian, green, or moderate, they all agree that we shouldn’t go to war in Syria. Do you imagine that this “positive development” would have come about without the prospect of an American strike? Do you equate any military action with “going to war”? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/18 "2013-09-10T19:48:14Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > The only way anyone is going to consider buying “extremist rebels did it!” is if the only people gassed are loyalist forces. Or not so loyalist troops, troops that Assad decides are plotting against him. I don’t put anything past this guy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/19 "2013-09-10T21:35:01Z")
This is very encouraging. I hope they are serious and follow through as promised. Obama’s speech writers must be busy totally rewriting tonights speech. I expect that we’ll continue applying pressure on Syria. But it’s time to silence the war drums and give this new development a chance to work. Pressure can be applied without some red line “do it or else we drop bombs” rhetoric. > **[Syrian crisis: Keeping up with key developments | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/10/world/meast/syria-developments/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)** > > President Obama says Russia’s plan for Syria to hand over its chemical arsenal to international control could avert American strikes “if it’s real.” > [@](#): > > • Syria is willing to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said in a statement before departing Moscow on Tuesday, according to Russian news agency Interfax. > > • Syria said it is ready to disclose the location of its chemical weapons stockpile, halt production and show its facilities to representatives of Russia, the United Nations and other states, Interfax cited Moallem as saying. The report did not identify the other states ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syria-agrees-to-give-up-control-of-chemical-weapons/668493/20 "2013-09-11T01:52:41Z")
In related news, all the gangs in New York have pinky sworn that they’ll hand in all their unregistered guns if the cops promise not to raid their crack and 'ho houses.