For about two decades, Syria has had a consistent
policy of chemical and biological arms acquisition that is systematic and
determined – and that has never been actually denied by Syria. More than
any other country, Syria has a policy of seeking strategic parity with
Israel which, in military terms, means getting biological and chemical
weapons, given that nuclear weapons are not attainable for now. This
pattern was seen by the chemical weapons procured by Syria from Egypt in
their joint preparations for the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, and even
today, Assad, Mubarak and other Arab leaders coordinate positions on
refusing to adhere to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions.
Moreover, Syria possibly cooperates with Egypt in
biological and chemical arms acquisition today, and it certainly does with
Iran and probably with Libya. It has been aided – though not necessarily
through institutionalized channels – by Russia, China and North Korea, in
efforts to enlarge its longer-range surface-to-surface missiles that carry
operational chemical and biological warheads, among them the Scud-C, the
M-9 and the No-Dhong. Assistance in upgrading and scaling up its
chemical-biological capabilities is given also by other formerly soviet
countries, India and, still, European firms. Several facilities located in
different sites in Syria are involved in these efforts and are in part
disguised as civilian buyers.
During recent years, Syria has switched from
above-ground missiles and non-conventional weapons facilities to
underground storage and production, thereby significantly limiting
Israel's ability to monitor and destroy those strategic facilities.
The first and by far only Syrian employment of a
chemical warfare agent took place in 1982 – it was the lethal cyanide gas
used by the Syrian regime in the slaughter of some 18,000 Sunni residents
of the city of Hama, in Syria itself.
Ever since then, Syria has made a very significant
progress in the area of chemical and biological weapons, which has various
implications of major importance. It built up an elaborate, large arsenal
of sarin and VX nerve agents containing aerial bombs and missiles
warheads, and formed a delivery realignment that is capable of instantly
launching those deadly weapons at a variety of targets and objects in
Israel, both strategic and tactical. Biological warfare agents – anthrax,
botulinum and others – have recently been added to the Syrian inventory.