U.S. assisting in Syrian chemical weapons destruction
The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has five days left before it must declare its chemical weapons holdings and facilities to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the chemical weapons watchdog charged with destruction of that arsenal.
With the deadline approaching, the U.S. shipped 10 armored vehicles to support the United Nations and OPCW work to verify and destroy the Syrian government's stockpile. The price tag for that delivery was $1.55 million paid out of the State Department's nonproliferation and disarmament fund. The U.S. spent a total of $6 million to assist with the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile according to the State Department.
The bulk of U.S. support has been in the form of financial aid. A U.S. official tells CBS News that the U.S. has also provided $4 million in financial contributions to two trust funds run by the UN and OPCW. Roughly half a million dollars has been spent to buy protective gear and medications for the OPCW inspectors. The remainder has been spent to train the OPCW to conduct their work in an active warzone, something they have never done before.
The State Department announced Monday their contribution of the armored Chevrolet Suburbans and explained that the vehicles were flown from Joint Base Andrews to Lebanon on two separate flights starting on October 17. The Royal Canadian Air Force airlifted them.
As of October 21, the OPCW has inspected 17 of the 45 chemical weapons sites that U.S. intelligence believes the regime has in country. The OPCW expects to visit all declared sites by October 27.
