Newsweek - USA (2021-03-12)

BY

JOBY WARRICK

@JobyWarrick

NEWSWEEK.COM 11

Misinformation Monitor: Parler’s

track record on the Capitol riot » P. 2 0

pulitzer prize-winning washington post

national security reporter Joby Warrick’s new

book Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and Ameri-

ca’s Race to Destroy the Most Dangerous Arsenal in

the World tells the story of America’s mission to try

to find and destroy chemical weapons in Syria and

defeat ISIS. In this excerpt, Warrick tells the incred-

ible story of the U.N. team of investigators who were

already on the ground in Damascus to investigate

other alleged abuses when on August 21, 2013, a new

series of attacks was waged in villages

around the capital—killing at least

1,400 in what would become known as

the deadliest chemical weapons atrocity

in a generation. Warrick’s account also

identifies one reason President Barack

Obama did not intervene after Syria

crossed his infamous “red line”—the presence of the

inspectors themselves, who could be put in harm’s way.

the artillery barrage began in the wee hours,

just after 2:30 on the airless morning of August 21.

Even from their Damascus hotel rooms miles away,

the U.N. investigators could sense that this one was

different.

The firing was coming from the hills just to the

north, and the projectiles—bright streaks against

the black sky—were arcing over the city’s ancient

quarter and landing a few miles to the east. The view

from the Four Seasons’ upper floors was mesmer-

izing: flashes of light, like distant fireworks, and

the muffled booms of explosions. There was a long

pause, and then a shift in direction, with the shells

passing to the southwest, until nearly dawn. The

early light revealed distant smoke plumes, but these,

too, were different. Instead of rising, they were flat

and low to the ground.

Åke Sellström, a Swedish scientist

and leader of the U.N. team, rolled

out of bed and instinctively turned

on the television. There was breaking

news coming out of Damascus—this

same Damascus—about a horren-

dous attack with massive numbers of

casualties somewhere in the capital’s outskirts. The

images that flickered across the screen were almost

beyond comprehension: Dozens and dozens of vic-

tims, lying dead in rows, including children and

toddlers still in their pajamas. Curiously, none had

visible injuries or wounds, but nearly all were soak-

ing wet, as though they had been doused with water.

Far worse were the images of the injured. The

camera zoomed in on a tiny girl who lay gasping

softly, like a fish unable to breathe and too far gone

The

Arrow’s Path

The presence of a team of U.N. investigators didn’t

prevent President Bashar al-Assad’s troops from launching the

most deadly chemical weapons attack in generations

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