http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/ ... 7935.shtml(AP) WASHINGTON - It's a polite faceoff of spies vs. diplomats, as the Obama administration debates how aggressively to pursue Libya's vast weapons stores, including tons of caustic mustard agent and thousands of anti-aircraft rockets that experts fear could fall into the hands of terrorists or Libyan loyalists.
The State Department wants to wait for fighting to abate before moving throughout Libya to locate and secure fugitive leader Muammar Qaddafi's massive weapons stores, according to two U.S. officials. It's also stressing working through the nascent Libyan rebel government.
Some U.S. intelligence officials have been pushing to expand the CIA's role in Libya to track down the weaponry faster, unilaterally without the rebels' help if necessary. They fear the rockets in particular may be quickly sold, ending up with al Qaeda or fueling a Libyan insurgency for years to come, the officials say.
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US, Israel concerned about Syrian weapons: report
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 571f48.341WASHINGTON — The United States and Israel are monitoring Syria's suspected arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, fearing that terror groups could take advantage of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad to obtain chemical agents and long-range missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.
Citing unnamed officials from both countries, the newspaper said US intelligence services believe Syria's nonconventional weapons programs include significant stockpiles of mustard gas, VX and Sarin gas and the missile and artillery systems to deliver them.
United Nations investigators also recently concluded that Damascus had been secretly constructing a nuclear reactor with North Korean help before Israeli jets destroyed the site in late 2007, the report said.
US and UN nonproliferation officials continue to worry that Pyongyang may have provided Syria with additional nuclear-related equipment, The Journal noted.
"We are very concerned about the status of Syria's WMD, including chemical weapons," the paper quoted Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, as saying. "Together with the US administration, we are watching this situation very carefully."
US and Israeli officials won't disclose exactly how they are keeping watch on the Syrian weaponry, the report said.
But in the past, the United States and Israel have tracked activities at Syrian military installations using satellites and human spies, the paper pointed out.
Current and former US officials said Syria has at least five sites where it produces chemical-weapons agents, including mustard gas, Sarin and VX, The Journal noted.
But the officials said these facilities are difficult to track as they are spread across Syria and centered in such cities as Damascus, Hama, Latakia and Aleppo, the report said.
Some production facilities are at military facilities that also store Syria's Scud missiles, The Journal noted.
The Americans want to invade yet again......First Iraq, then Libya, and now it will be Syria as the hunt for OIL......errrr......I mean WMDs continue. Gee, yah think we should hunt down Israel's nukes and WMDs? I mean, we don't want to treat the Jews any differently now do we? No, no, no.....that would be "anti-Semitism".
