Syria's use of chemical weapons in the recent attack on civilians has Americans questioning the Obama administration's past honesty with the general public, reports say. According to Fox News, Susan Rice, Obama's former National Security Advisor, is taking more heat- this time for allegedly making dubious claims about Syria's chemical weapon stockpile back in 2013. Skeptics question whether or not all Syrian chemical weapons were actually purged from the country, as Rice and other officials suggested four years ago. If so, they claim, Assad's Syrian regime wouldn't have had any to attack civilians with.
The Obama administration claimed all chemical weapons had been removed
Sources state that in a January 2017 interview, Ms. Rice heralded a supposed deal struck between the US and Syria as a "success". She went on to assure the American public that in that deal, US officials "were able to get the Syrian government to voluntarily and verifiably give up its chemical weapons stockpile." Other reports say that Obama's former Secretary of State John Kerry also went on record claiming the US removed "100% of the weapons."
However, Fox News reported there have been at least two other times Assad's regime has used chemical agents on civilians since 2013- excluding the most recent attack. When questioned about the inconsistencies, officials of the former Obama administration were adamant that all chemical weapons had indeed been removed from the country.
Russian foul play is a possibility
One possible theory analysts have suggested as to why Assad's weapons stockpile may not have been completely destroyed has less to do with dishonesty by the Obama administration, and everything to do with possible foul play by the Russians. The deal that Rice referred to in her past interview included a US alliance with Russia in order to make the weapon-disposal process more efficient.
While diplomatic relations between the two economic powerhouses seemed genuine at the time, there's a chance the partnership may have been a bit too good to be true.
A potentially complicit Russia may have known about additional Syrian chemical weapons
The country known for its relative dislike of Americans has maintained a steady friendship with the Syrians since as far back as 1944.
In fact, records indicate that Russia was one of the very few countries that voted against a UN Security Council condemnation of the Syrian government in 2012- after the Assad regime was accused of attacking civilians in Homs, Syria. As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has suggested, it may be that Russia was "complicit," and didn't actually follow through with the disposal of Syrian weapons.
Although exact details as to how Syria managed to still have chemical weapons four years after the American deal was brokered haven't come to the surface yet, one thing's for sure - key officials from the former administration might have some explaining to do.
