AP Sources: intelligence on weapons no "slam dunk"

[Montecresto]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The intelligence linking Syrian President Bashar Assad or his inner circle to an alleged chemical weapons attack is no "slam dunk," with questions remaining about who actually controls some of Syria's chemical weapons stores and doubts about whether Assad himself ordered the strike, U.S. intelligence officials say.

President Barack Obama declared unequivocally Wednesday that the Syrian government was responsible, while laying the groundwork for an expected U.S. military strike.

"We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out," Obama said in an interview with "NewsHour" on PBS. "And if that's so, then there need to be international consequences."

However, multiple U.S. officials used the phrase "not a slam dunk" to describe the intelligence picture - a reference to then-CIA Director George Tenet's insistence in 2002 that U.S. intelligence showing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was a "slam dunk" - intelligence that turned out to be wrong.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-29-03-11-56

 

[PeteEU]

Reporters from AP have been for a while reporting on the rebels and their usage of chemical weapons, mass executions and other not so nice things, but the media have been totally caught up in attacking Syria that they have largely ignored this aspect. Only places I have actually see these stories is on Al Jazeera and a small portion on the BBC.

 

[Montecresto]

Right, and notice the warmongers on this board are ignoring it, too!