Why wouldn't Assad use conventional weapons?

Because they’re giving the rest of the world the middle finger. Daring us to do something.

Probably trying to make the liberals go, “awe these poor people we need to let them in”

Assad doesn’t care what the world thinks of him. Neither did Saddam Hussein when he gassed his own people.

The “world” won’t move against him, Putin vetoed that.

Conventional weapons destroy the infrastructure, buildings and roads… Chemical weapons just kill the people and livestock.

Shock value.

@Tropical_Willie‘s got it. It keeps infrastructure whole while eliminating those ‘pesky’ residents. It is also a practical real world test of the chemicals in an area where there would be few witnesses and virtually no response from the rest of the world.

Because he is an Ass (h)ad.
The Russians claim the rebels did it. Whom to believe?

Assad and the Russians have been using conventional weapons big time in heavily built up areas which is why there is such a high civilian death toll and so many Syrian refugees. Their air offensive has paid off and it no longer seems possible for the rebels to overthrow the Assad regime. Why then use chemical weapons?

While it doesn’t make much sense Western chemical warfare experts are highly sceptical of Russian claims that the air attack hit a rebel weapons dump thus releasing the chemical agent. It wouldn’t be the first time Assad used chemical weapons – on 21 August 2013 rockets containing sarin were fired on civilians by Assad’s Republican Guards and the Syrian foreign minister has laid down conditions before he will accept any UN investigation into the latest attack. If Russian claims were accurate wouldn’t Assad welcome an investigation?

@SergeantQueen Do you have to be a liberal to be outraged at the use of sarin gas on children?

The policy of gassing his citizenry effectively puts the message out that “you are meaningless and helpless to boot. I can do this to you without fear or consequence, and your salvation is out of the picture”.

I’m not saying you can only be a liberal to be outraged. I just said that the liberals are going to use this as a reason for their argument about why Trump should let people in these countries into the US. This shows more than anything that these people shouldn’t be allowed into America. If they do this to their own citizens, what will they do to ours?

Colonials murder their own with lethal injections, so we should jail every colonial that sets foot on European soil.

Immigration isn’t the issue here, it is about ensuring the Geneva Conventions are upheld. That means allowing the UN to do its job and find out who is guilty. People who commit war crimes should be identified and prosecuted.

You’re right: Assad would just use conventional weapons.

Has he admitted to it? I’m going to assume it is a US-backed event again until I see good evidence to the contrary. There’s no good reason to use gas, and too many extremely big reasons not to… except to frame someone else to make them look bad and justify actions against them.

@ragingloli isn’t it a mistake to confuse all colonials with the policies of colonial governments. As a resident of Germany I would expect a more nuanced attitude on the topic.