Syria's stockpile of chemical agents is largely "unweaponized" and could be eradicated more quickly than initially thought, the Washington Post reported Thursday citing a confidential U.S. and Russian assessment.
The report states that Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons is largely unweaponized. This has two important implications. First, the weapons could be eliminated far more quickly than originally thought – as little as nine months. Second, the unweaponized state of the weapons means they were likely to be seized and used by terrorist organizations.
The report came as the members of the UN Security Council overcame their differences to reach agreement on a draft resolution regarding Syria’s chemical stockpile.
The report that contains assessments by US and Russian officials estimates that Syria assesses more than 1,000 metric tons of chemical weapons, including 300 metric tons of sulfur mustard.
The remainder of the stockpile were made up of chemical precursors to nerve agents that were "unweaponized" and in "liquid bulk" form and therefore easier to destroy.
To give just one example, AFP reports that two chemical precursors for sarin nerve gas needed to be blended using special equipment before being loaded into rockets or artillery shells.
