Discussion over how to handle the situation in Syria continues. After the U.S. and Russia reached an agreement to peacefully destroy Syria’s chemical weapons, some are still skeptical that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will live up to his end of the bargain. Sen. Robert Menendez told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider the agreement is full of opportunity and fraught with danger and says the use of force should be considered if Assad doesn’t comply with the conditions.
A United Nations report released today has found sarin gas was used in a chemical attack in Syria Aug. 21. Menendez called the report verification of what many have been saying all along. “I think it strengthens our hand at the United Nations as we try to see if this diplomatic breakthrough between Russia and the United States on Syria can actually be achieved in which Assad’s chemical weapons would be totally destroyed,” he said.
While the UN report doesn’t say Assad is responsible for the chemical attacks, Menendez said there’s no doubt in his mind that Assad is behind them. “Missiles ultimately were used to deliver these chemical weapons. The rebels don’t have missiles because if they did they’d be firing it at Assad’s tanks, artillery and aircraft. The battlefield would be different today in Syria. And all of our satellite imagery shows that the missiles came from Assad’s control areas into the rebel areas,” he said. “And I think even some of the comments of the secretary general of the United Nations last weekend when he didn’t think that they were going to be ascribed to him, made it very clear that Assad has committed crimes against humanity.”
Some have said the resistance in Syria is split into 1,000 parts and much is dominated by hard line Islamists. When asked if that gives him pause about taking action, Menendez said, “Number one is it doesn’t give me pause to get rid of the chemical weapons. That’s in everybody’s interest — the United States, our allies, those in the region and the people of Syria who would be slaughtered by it. Secondly, there are more extremists today in Syria as a result of the unraveling of Syria. And so all we’re gonna continue to have is a base of a country that is in the verge of dissolution that will allow the extremists to pursue, which is all the more reason that getting the moderate, vetted elements and strengthening their hand so that they have the future in Syria versus the extremists is incredibly important.”
Menendez previously said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s op ed piece in the New York Times made him want to vomit. “About President Putin’s op ed piece, you know when someone who rose to the KGB ultimately wants to tell the United States what’s in its national security interests, I get worried. And I just found it offensive,” he said.
In Menendez’s view, the outcome of the deal could either be very positive or very negative. “I think this deal is full of opportunity and fraught with danger. It’s full of opportunity because we could actually end up in a better place than we envision with military strikes. The elimination of all the chemical weapons and the destruction of the chemical weapons production facilities, in essence closing these factories of death. That would be a tremendous outcome. And maybe the pressure that would lead from that would take us back to what we call Geneva 2, the negotiated agreements that the Russians agreed with us on as to the future of Syria. Fraught with danger because if in fact Assad doesn’t follow through, we’re back at the security council without knowing in fact what is the enforcement mechanism and he would’ve bought time on the battlefield,” he said. “So we have to pursue and see that we can do everything possible to make it the positive result, not the negative one.”
Because there is a possibility Assad could give chemical weapons to Hezbollah or others in Iraq, Menendez said time is of the essence with implementing the agreement. “This is why we insisted on a one-week announcement by Assad to the United Nations and the group that handles the chemical weapons treaty. We have our satellite imagery. We have our intelligence. We believe there’s a thousand metric tons of chemical weapons. We believe that there are 45 sites. We have a pretty good sense even in the movements since this threat of where Assad has moved some of these things,” he said. “We’re gonna keep our eye on it as we wait to see this play. I don’t think it’s moved. I think it’s in the regime’s hands. But it’s all the more reason why time is of the essence to assure that the scenario that you just asked about doesn’t happen.”
According to Menendez, the threat of U.S. force got results. “I think that I would say that the credible use of force is the only reason that the Russians recalculated and Assad blinked. Otherwise this would not have happened. We have to test it,” he said. “And the first step I would say before coming back to the Congress is if he fails to perform, go back to the security council and see if you can get a Chapter 7 use of force resolution.”
While Menendez said the Russians may not want to include the use of force, he believes it would be difficult for them to take that position. “I think it would be tough for them in front of the world now that Assad has admitted to what he has denied until a week ago — having chemical weapons,” he said. “That it would be tough for the Russians to say, ‘Well he’s not performing but we shouldn’t strike at him.'”
Menendez said the U.S. should try to work within the parameters of the agreement, but should be prepared to do more if necessary. “If the answer at the UN is that Russia continues to be Assad’s patron and veto it, then all options should be on the table including the president looking at the possibility of launching because time is of the essence,” he said.