US is looking into new Syria chemical weapons claim

Is all this going on because today is the 13th?The ‘chemical weapons’ as manipulative tactic? I had hoped would go away, is not.Today there are claims of a chlorine attack. Why would the Syrian government bother with this, when the Syrian Army has the upper hand almost everywhere- If chlorine was used, again, only the NATO mercs have anything at all to gain from doing this   Washington Post is running with the news

The United States said Sunday that it was looking into claims of a new chemical weapons attack in Syria, after rebels and the government traded accusations over the use of chlorine gas in a central village.“We are trying to run this down,” Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told ABC’s “This Week.” “We’ve shown, I think, in the past that we will do everything in our power to establish what has happened and then consider possible steps in response.”However, she described the claims as so far “unsubstantiated”.Both government and pro-opposition sources have said chlorine gas was used in the Friday evening attack on Kafr Zeita, which has been the focus of heavy clashes in recent weeks.If the Syrian government is eventually implicated, it could ramp up pressure on the United States to take more robust actions against Damascus. The Obama administration backtracked on plans for airstrikes following the Aug. 21 chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs in favor of a program through which Syria would give up its chemical weapons, which is now running behind schedule.Syrian state television has blamed the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra for the attack. Insurgents across the border in neighboring Iraq have used chlorine in car bombings in the past and the toxic gas is relatively widely available in the region.Opposition activists said that blood and urine samples have been collected from the five worst affected victims.It is a latest in the string of relatively small-scale chemical attacks reported by the Syrian opposition, which they say have largely focused on the Damascus suburbs.There, as in much of the rest of the country, the Syrian government appears to have taken the upper hand. Speaking to students in Damascus, President Bashar al Assad said on Sunday that the war had reached a “turning point” due to the successes of the army.

When you're on the team that is winning there is no need to stoop to dirty tricksRelated:   4 alleged chemical attacks being investigated by US/UK/Israel in Syria Also  - Kerry and US Military Clash on Syria?April 03/14 -  BREAKING NEWS! Claims of Chemical Arms use in DamascusDon't Miss the updates on Ukraine from todayTwo posts-   Russia requests UNSC Meeting Tonight.Ukraine Military Op- Criminal & Ukraine- Conflict, casualties, building seizures,1 MIA Oligarch & Updates

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 Stocks suffer big weekly loss; Nasdaq below 4,000

The stock market is looking vulnerable after an extended selloff in tech Friday sent the Nasdaq below 4,000 and wiped 1% off the other main indexes.