Endgame in Syria: Sarin Gas

The beginning of the end in Syria is approaching. It has been always said that when Syria is near its end, Assad will use or threaten to use gas. The opposing forces are gathering more and more strength, more and more arms, more and more Syrian soldiers defecting. Even the Russians have soften their position on Syria and have tried to allow Assad to flee the country safely. Those close to Assad indicate he will go down with the ship and not flee. He knows his fate. If true, it seems that despite the direct warnings of the US and NATO about using gas will be ignored.

The Syrians have said they will not use gas, deadly Sarin gas, on its own citizens. Yet, many of the rebel fighters are Syrians, just rebelling Syrians, not terrorists from outside. It seems the deadly gas will be used around Aleppo, a war torn city. Reports have already noted that Syrian armed forces have mixed and armed artillery shells with the gas, which is enroute to that area. Assad is apparently gambling dangerously on the Americans holding back from attacking the convoys as long as they deploy unconventional weapons, and would only react when they are used. It is possible that the US or NATO will strike the suspected sites before Assad can use the gas. Sarin gas was used in the Tokyo subway several years ago as part of a terrorist attack.

Sarin is the most volatile of the nerve agents, which means that it can quickly and easily evaporate from a liquid into a vapor and spread into the environment. People can be exposed to the vapor even if they do not come in contact with the liquid form of sarin. Because it evaporates so quickly, sarin presents an immediate but short-lived threat.

The Syrians can deploy sarin using artillery loaded shells or drop it out of a plane.