US Will Destroy Some of Syria’s Arsenal Offshore
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File photo. Purestock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — It’s a dangerous job but somebody’s got to do it. In this case, it’s getting rid of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. According to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is overseeing the mission, the U.S. has said it will do a lion’s share of the work.
OPCW Director General Ahmet Uzumcu announced over the weekend that the U.S. is offering “destruction technology, full operational support and financing to neutralize” some of the most lethal parts of Syria’s chemical arsenal at an offshore facility believed to be in the Mediterranean Sea.
Uzumcu added that a U.S. Navy ship “is undergoing modifications to support the operations and to accommodate verification activities by the OPCW.”
If all goes to plan, the stockpiles will be out of Syria by a Dec. 31 deadline.
In another operation, nearly 800 tons of dual-use chemicals are expected to be removed by Feb. 5, 2014 for destruction by private companies in order to complete the goal of eradicating all of Syria’s chemical weapon arsenals by the end of the spring. As many as three dozen companies have applied to offer their services.
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