WarSclerotic

Syria possesses a stockpile of chemical weapons that it has developed with help from numerous commercial entities from various countries, including Iran. Syria’s efforts to develop its chemical arsenal were initiated by then Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, and the work was continued by his son Bashar.

The Syrian military’s chemical arsenal has steadfastly improved since the 1980s, both in quantity and in quality. Multiple Western European companies, later joined by India, China, North Korea, Iran and probably also Russia, have supplied the regime with raw materials and industrial equipment to manufacture chemicals. Iran and Syria’s close cooperation in the chemical field continues to this day.

Syria has many weapons at its disposal; among the most important and deadly are its Scud-B, Scud-C, and Scud-D ballistic missiles, which can deliver chemical warheads with nerve agents such as sarin and VX, both of which are incredibly toxic. Moreover, the military is suspected of having mustard gas and cyanide as well, and can deploy its chemical weapons by means of aerial bombs, rockets or chemical tipped artillery shells.

The chemical arsenal is stored in numerous locations throughout Syria and is kept under vigilant watch, but this is tenuous.

The rebels have yet to capture one of these bases, though one can only imagine this scenario is only a matter of time. The sites are monitored around the clock by Western surveillance, mainly by satellite, to be able to spot any changes on the ground or evidence of the Syrian military attempting to use the chemical weapons or to transfer them to other military bases. Similarly, the West is watching to see if any bases fall into the hands of the rebels.

Syria apparently also possesses a store of biological weapons, among them microbes that produce toxins and infectious diseases, and probably include those that can cause widespread epidemics. It is also reasonably likely that leading up to and as a consequence of the U.S. military occupation of Iraq, chemical and biological weapons were smuggled from Iraq to Syria.