Syrian Chemical Disclosure Falls Short of U.S. Count

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Wall Street Journal:

Syria has declared fewer chemical-weapons sites than U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies believe it has, U.S. and other Western officials said on Friday, hours before the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution for the destruction of the arsenal.

 

The Syrian government declared a week ago to international inspectors that it had just over 30 chemical-weapons sites—including some that are mobile—though the U.S. and Israel believe it has 50-plus sites, the U.S. and other Western officials said.

 

Syria's declaration to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the agency charged with overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons, hasn't been made public.

 

U.S. officials said technical experts and intelligence analysts were comparing the data to U.S. intelligence collected from satellites and other sources.

 

"We were surprised the declaration was as complete as it was. But we do not believe [they] identified all the sites and that did not surprise us," said a senior U.S. official briefed on Syria's initial declaration.

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Meanwhile, over in Syria...