Destroying Assad's chemical weapons a multinational effort

Four months ago in September, after the UN and western nations found Syrian President Assad had indeed used chemical weapons on his citizens and rebels, the leader agreed under pressure to destroy his arsenal of Sarin, Mustard gas and VX nerve gas. The agreement, a result of delicate and intense negotiations between the US and Russia, envisioned a series of steps to that end.

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Despite initial sputtering angry denials by Assad's regime, UN and ultimately world leaders agreed that he had authorized and used nerve gas shells on concentrations of rebels intermixed with Syrian citizens. Animals are collateral damage ... photo from baomai.blogspot.com

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... as were babies and children. Photo from de.nachrichten.yahoo.com

As a CNN article at the time wrote, "initial inspections of declared chemical weapons sites must be completed by November; all production and mixing and filling equipment must be destroyed by November; and all chemical weapons material must be eliminated by mid-2014."

High stakes conversation between US Secretary of State, John Kerry (left), and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) over identifying, inventorying, removing, and destroying Syrian chemical weapons in an 11 month time frame, in the middle of a civil war. Photo from Pakistani Business Recorder - September 13, 2013

In fact, as the halfway point arrives, there has been substantive progress. In a USA Today article, it was estimated that Syrian leader Assad's military had about 1,000 metric tons of deadly chemicals and precursors, including nerve agents and mustard gas. "Most of the chemicals are precursors, which can be collected and then shipped out of the country, said Paul Walker, an analyst at Green Cross International, an environmental group based in Geneva."

By the end of October, Syria had submitted an inventory of weapons caches and volumes, and UN inspectors had confirmed the details at nearly all sites. At the same time, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - the UN authorized entity overseeing the implementation and adherence to the agreement - announced it was satisfied that the planned destruction of CW production, mixing and munition-filling capability had also been met.

UN authorized inspectors in the fall of 2013 ready to dismantle some mixing equipment in Syrian chemical weapons depots. Photo from Washington Post

The tricky part remains

Assuming all has gone as reported, that now leaves the 1200 tons (updated estimate by on-the-ground inspectors) of chemicals in various states of toxicity to be removed from the country, and then destroyed. On November 15 the OPCW approved a plan to transport Syria's chemical weapons to a location outside its territory by February 5, 2014, where the weapons would then be destroyed.

Russia has offered armored vehicles to transport the material to Syrian ports. By the end of December, according to http://groundreport.com "Russia has delivered 75 up armored trucks to Syria, along with other equipment that will be used to transport Syrian chemical weapons arsenal to sites for systematic destruction, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported. “Over the three days from December 18-20 we have airlifted to the Latakia airport 75 vehicles, including 50 Kamaz trucks and 25 Ural armored trucks,” in 38 flights.

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Russian vehicles such as these will move chemicals from Syria proper to the port city of Latakia.

Norway and Denmark have agreed to transport the chemicals from Lakatia, Syria to Italy where most will be handed over to the United States, some to the UK, and less dangerous chemicals to unnamed chemical companies.

Danish frigates to be used to transport Syrian chemicals. Photo from www.giornalisticalabria.it

Italian port of Gioia Tauro (in the southern Italian region of Calabria) handles "dangerous" shipments of chemicals routinely, though this specific exercise caused a fair amount of concern across the country. Photo by REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/Files

The US will destroy the highest priority chemicals in a specially outfitted ship, the Cape Ray, while priority number 2 chemicals will be destroyed in the UK after transport there by the Royal Navy.

The Cape Ray left the Portsmouth New Hampshire shipyard in early January after being set up to destroy the most dangerous chemicals at sea (in international waters in the Mediterranean).

While it is easy to write a few sentences explaining the procedure - these pictures remind Teatree that the implementation involves real people, real equipment, lots of planning, lots of security. It appears the timetable has slipped a bit, but we shall see. Ironic that Russia will be hosting the Olympics in Sochi with heavy security to thwart terror threats, while transporting chemical weapons out of an allied country it robustly supports.

UK faces flareups in old tensions in Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands

The United Kingdom (ie. Great Britain), after pulling off spectacular summer 2012 Olympics and rejoicing over the latest Royal pregnancy, suddenly has found itself confronting old tensions.

The closest to home is in Northern Ireland, where the insistence on parochial parades and the waving of flags has resulted in violence once again between Catholics and Protestants who typically represent the political perspectives of those wishing to remain loyal to the British crown, and those who want to unite with the Republic of Ireland.

The United Kingdom consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

Three days of violence began with the Belfast city council decided to stop flying the British flag year round. Protestors have converged on the council headquarters wrapped up in British flags demanding the decision be reversed. Counter protestors have reacted angrily, getting into fights with the flag waving protestors ... and away it goes.

Northern Ireland, with Belfast as the political and administrative center of the entity

Protestors started out at the City Council heaquarters in Belfast ...

... followed up with more strident parades in the streets

Fights, firebombs, and a few stray shots have increased the tensions and stakes between those wishing unification with Ireland, draped in Catholicism, and those clinging to Great Britain, with a tribal identification with Protestantism

Unfortunately, the flare-up of violence and tension cannot be dismissed with a roll of the eyes towards fringe individuals. The past three days are an altogether potent reminder of the "troubles" in Northern Ireland running from the late 1960s to the end - sort of - with the 1998 Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement. During those three decades, over 3500 deaths occurred (civilians and armed forces of police and army) with 45,000 injuries. And untold grief, trauma, economic cost, and opportunities lost.

Argentina again demands its right to govern the Falkland Islands (the Malvinas)

More than 7000 miles away from UK's concern with Northern Ireland, a tiny set of islands in South America is suddenly a repeat source of irritation. Over 30 years ago, as summarized at Wikipedia, "Argentine forces invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. The British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force, and retake the islands by amphibious assault. The resulting conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, which returned the islands to British control. During the conflict, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders died."

A geographic look at the UK, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands.

The tension then, and now, is over the legitimacy of who should control the islands. Argentina bases its claim back to Spain's one time possession, the UK counters that that claim is not clear, and that those on the island should have the final say in what country they should retain citizenship.

Argentinan President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

The latest claim by Argentina's President Kirchner is the fourth in the past year alone. From a CNN article, "In February of last year, the Argentinian leader accused the British of militarizing the South Atlantic after the Royal Navy sent its warship HMS Dauntless to the region. Then, in June of 2012, Fernandez confronted [UK Prime Minister] Cameron at the G-20 meeting and tried to hand him a letter about the islands -- something he refused to accept.

The dispute flared again ahead of the London 2012 Olympics, when Argentina released a video boosting its Olympic team that was filmed on the islands. The advertisement showed Argentinian field hockey star Fernando Zylberberg training in the streets of Port Stanley in the Falklands. The video ends with the slogan: "To compete on English soil, we train on Argentine soil."

President Kirchner, with appropriate military officials in the background all orchestrated for the media, throws carnations into the Beagle Channel at a ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the start of the Falkland conflict near the war memorial in Ushuaia Argentina on Monday.

The stance predictably ended with protestors burning UK flags, wanting their islands back

So, Teatree isn't sure of what Fernandez' game is. Perhaps it is deflecting criticism from her own governance issues to one mingled with patriotism, similar to her recent decision to nationalize a Spanish energy company's assets in Argentina (ironic that while that occurred, Argentina bases its claim on an agreement with Spain in 1833 ...)

Whatever the case, the world goes on a swirling with conflict, outrage, vows to remember and revenge, etc. Oh, and epiphany occurs tomorrow, January 6.

A Queen's Diamond Jubilee

How many queens, approximately, are there in the world today? Ask google, Jeeves, Wikipedia, and the answer is ... a dozen. Apparently there are two different types of Queens: Queen Consort, and Queen Regnant. Queens Regnant are queens who have the constitutional power, and are actually the ones who were, at some point, first in line to their throne.

- Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and the Commonwealth.
- Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Queen Consorts are married to one King or another, and have no power. There are currently 9:

Queen Paola, consort of Albert II of the Belgians
Queen Rania, consort of Abdullah II of Jordan
Queen Silvia, consort of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Queen Sirikit, consort of Rama IX of Thailand
Queen Sofia, consort of Juan Carlos I of Spain
Queen Sonja, consort of Harald V of Norway
Queen 'Masenate, consort of Letsie III of Lesotho
Empress Michiko, consort of Akihito of Japan
Queen Sylvia, consort of Muwenda Mutebi II of Buganda

Queens, regnant or consort regardless, have many ceremonial duties. Here Queen Sirikit of Thailand is escorting Russian leader Putin into a state dinner ...

At the moment, Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth (a very loose grouping of most nations that have some history as a colony of the United Kingdom and keep the connection), is celebrating the 60th year of her reign.


The UK Commonwealth of Nations

Let the celebrations begin - the performers perform, the royal family be seen, the photographers snap, commentators muse, and citizens of all these countries take pride.

Queen Elizabeth, her husband Prince Philip, and a couple wives of her son and grandson respectively

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From the left: the lesser known "royal" Beatrice of York, the well known Kate and her husband William, along with Harry

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Fireworks display

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The finely costumed will.i.am is perhaps performing a salute ...

Next, its the Olympics in London in July!