Many comrades and friends have faulted me for jumping the gun on holding the Syrian regime responsible for the gas attacks. I was a bit more cautious by saying that it is "most likely" in the absence of evidence to the contrary. I am no expert and I know that caution is imperative amid an avalanche of Western and Gulf regime propaganda. I don't above the regime but I don't absolve the rebels, although the use of fighter jets (if proven) would implicate the regime. A friend and comrade who is a professor at a major US medical school sent me this (I cite with his permission):
"There is no way that the Western powers could have determined virtually immediately the full nature of the attack and the culpability of the regime. They have not even done a forensic examination yet, not of the bodies nor of the materials involved. There is too much propaganda involved in packaging this story. You would think the English Guardian newspaper has a correspondent sitting in the Syrian defense ministry and being fed all the state secrets in real time. And yes, As’ad, you jumped the gun too fast. This is not to say the regime is innocent, but that is different from firmly claiming it is guilty."
"There is no way that the Western powers could have determined virtually immediately the full nature of the attack and the culpability of the regime. They have not even done a forensic examination yet, not of the bodies nor of the materials involved. There is too much propaganda involved in packaging this story. You would think the English Guardian newspaper has a correspondent sitting in the Syrian defense ministry and being fed all the state secrets in real time. And yes, As’ad, you jumped the gun too fast. This is not to say the regime is innocent, but that is different from firmly claiming it is guilty."
