TEHRAN (FNA)- A former ranking British intelligence official underlined that the recent incidents surrounding Syria are very similar to those before the US-led military strike on Iraq in March 2003.“The accusations of using chemical weapons by Syria is a clear sign that this issue has been precisely prepared and coordinated, specially in the western media, and its goal is to pave the way for US direct military intervention in Syria,” Former MI6 Official Alastair Crooke told FNA on Tuesday.
“The concurrence of this incident with the presence of UN inspectors in Syria is not accidental at all and for many of us it associates the Iraq’s incidents because UN inspectors also inspected Iraq in 2003,” Crooke added.
He pointed to the possibility of launching a military attack against the Syrian government, and said, “The possibility of military strike cannot be ruled out, but the point is any military strike against Syria will be limited and only the sensitive and military centers will be targeted.”
The US invaded Iraq in 2003 on the lame excuse that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had stockpiled Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in the Arab country, but they found nothing there.
On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel claimed that the White House is studying different military options against Syria.
Hagel suggested the Pentagon is moving forces into place ahead of possible military action against Syria, even as President Barack Obama voiced caution.
On Saturday, a senior Iranian lawmaker reiterated that the US is trying to repeat the Iraq scenario in Syria.
“The Americans are trying to exercise the same scenario in Syria that they implemented 10 years ago in Iraq, where they could not find even one kilogram of chemicals…,” member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Hassan Asafari said.
He said the chemical weapons accusations leveled against the Syrian government are not worth and only meant to provide an excuse for a military intervention in the Muslim country.
The prominent legislator stressed that since the Syrian army has gained remarkable victories over the armed rebels and pushed them out of the Muslim country’s strategic cities, including Damascus and Homs, and also due to the fact that the West, specially the US, could not achieve its goals in Syria, they are trying to launch a military strike against the Syrian government and nation by involving the NATO.
United Nations’ chemical weapons inspectors arrived in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday to begin investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country.
The 20-member UN team is led by arms expert Ake Sellstrom of Sweden and UN disarmament chief, Angela Kane.
During the mission, expected to last for two weeks, the team is to investigate Khan al-Assal area, near Aleppo. Two other sites are also to be investigated.
The arrival of the experts came just days after Syria’s Foreign Ministry said it would fully cooperate with the UN team of chemical weapons inspectors.
By Fars News Agency
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