■ The U.S. government may be considering military action in response to chemical strikes near Damascus. But a generation ago, America’s military and intelligence communities knew about and did nothing to stop a series of nerve gas attacks far more devastating than anything Syria has seen, Foreign Policy has learned.
■ In 1988, during the waning days of Iraq’s war with Iran, the United States learned through satellite imagery that Iran was about to gain a major strategic advantage by exploiting a hole in Iraqi defenses. U.S. intelligence officials conveyed the location of the Iranian troops to Iraq, fully aware that Hussein’s military would attack with chemical weapons, including sarin, a lethal nerve agent.

■ Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi reiterated that Syria never used any chemical weapons in any shape or form, not in the Ghouta area in Damascus countryside nor anywhere else, and that it would never use it even if it possessed it, adding that there's evidence that such weapons were used by terrorist groups including satellite imagery and witness testimonies.
■ In an interview given to al-Mayadeen TV on Saturday, Minister al-Zoubi said that Syria and its friends have incontrovertible proof that the projectiles in question were launched from sites controlled by terrorists on sites containing civilians, therefore terrorists are fully responsible for these actions and all their repercussions.

Christof Lehmann: Former Jabhat al-Nusrah Member admits Chemical Weapons Use
Evidence Indicates that Syrian Government Did Not Launch a Chemical Weapon Attack Against Its People

The Iraqi government has said it will not allow its airspace or territory be used in any action against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

■ A UN inspection team vehicle in Syria has been shot at by snipers, a UN spokesman says. The team has currently come back to the government checkpoint to replace the damaged vehicle. There have been no reports of casualties so far. The inspectors’ car “was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area," the spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Martin Nesirky, said. Despite earlier reports that the inspection will be suspended, the team went to the inspection area after replacing the vehicle, which is no longer serviceable, at the checkpoint. Syrian state TV has issued a statement accusing rebel fighters of carrying out the attack, quoting Syrian information ministry.

Ban Ki-Moon/UN: Note to Correspondents on the UN Chemical Weapons Investigation Team in Damascus
PressTV: Snipers shoot at UN experts on way to chemical attack sites
Le Figaro: Les experts de l'ONU visés par des tirs
Jason Ditz: Report Claims US, Israeli Trained Rebels Moving Toward Damascus

Government will allow United Nations experts to visit site of alleged gas attack outside Damascus, according to state media. ● Syrian state media says the government has reached an agreement with the United Nations to allow a UN team of experts to visit the site of last week's alleged chemical weapons attack. State TV also said in a statement on Sunday that the two sides were working to set a date and time for the visit to the agreed upon locations outside Damascus purportedly hit by chemical agents last week. The UN said that a team of experts already in Syria "is preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities'" on Monday, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement.

Rixon Stewart: Who Benefits?
Daily Star (Lebanon): Israel's Peres urges "world" to "take out" Syria chemicals
Stephen Lendman: Drumbeat for War on Syria
PressTV: US cannot "afford to" wait for UN to attack Syria: Officials
ECB: 15 Signs That Obama Has Already Made The Decision To Go To War With Syria
Jason Ditz: US, Britain and France Agree to Attack Syria Within Two Weeks
CLG: British Navy ready to launch first strike on Syria
Christof Lehmann: UN Inspection in Syria to Begin Monday. Iran warns White House not to Cross Red Line
Voice of Russia: Russia says West has no proof for Syria weapons claims

The UN headquarters were being wiretapped by American intelligence agency NSA, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel. If confirmed, it would be against a long-standing agreement between the US and the UN.
■ Germany's Der Spiegel claims to have analyzed secret NSA documents that show that, last summer, the US intelligence agency managed to get access to the video conferencing system used at the United Nations headquarters in New York, leading to "a dramatic improvement of data on video conferencing and our ability to decode that data," according to the document. The NSA also allegedly caught Chinese intelligence spying on the UN and started analyzing the material China was wiretapping. The alleged spying activities are illegal. The US has a long-standing agreement with the UN stipulating that the US refrain from covert operations with regards to the UN's activities. Der Spiegel also claims that the NSA documents it has analyzed show that the NSA spied on the EU even after its move to its new UN embassy in September 2012.

Der Spiegel: US-Geheimdienst hörte Zentrale der Vereinten Nationen ab
Manager-Magazin: US-Geheimdienst spähte auch Vereinte Nationen aus
Thomas Gaist: NSA used decryption technology to spy on the United Nations

While domestic security must be upheld, it is equally important to protect open public debate. ● We know that you will agree that one of the hallmarks of free and open democracies is a vivid public debate addressing all fundamental aspects of society, including the balance and possible conflict between the legitimate security concerns of governments and the protection of privacy and the free press. We all understand both the imperative to uphold domestic security and the equally important imperative to protect our open public debate about the limits to and legal implications of these efforts. The debate is not a sign of weakness of our democracies. It is the basis of our strength. ● Against this backdrop, events in Great Britain over the past week give rise to deep concern. We may differ on where to draw the line and strike the right balance, but we should not differ in our determination to protect an open debate about these essential questions. Also, we should stand united to protect individuals engaging in such debates within the parameters of democracy and the rule of law.

A Department of Defense training manual obtained by a conservative watchdog group pointed to the original American colonists as examples of an extremist movement, comments that have sparked fear of a broader crackdown on dissent in America. The training manual provides information that describes, among other things, “common themes in extremist ideologies." Now, if the Department of Defense has its way, historical figures who risked their lives to free America from British colonial rule – names like Paul Revere, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams – will be rebranded as dangerous extremists, alongside the likes of skinheads and neo-Nazis. The first paragraph of the section entitled ‘Extremist Ideologies’ opens with a statement that has drawn heated criticism: “In US history, there are many examples of extremist ideologies and movements. The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule and the Confederate states who sought to secede from the Northern states are just two examples.”

Iranian Armed Forces’ Deputy Chief of Staff Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri has warned the United States of the “severe consequences” of crossing the red line on Syria. ● “The US knows where the red line of the Syria front is laid; and crossing Syria’s red line in any form will have severe consequences for the White House,” Brigadier General Jazayeri said on Sunday. The Iranian commander said that the ongoing terrorist war in Syria is masterminded by the US and the reactionary forces in the region against the resistance front, adding that despite the enemy plots, the Syrian government and nation have gained considerable victories thanks to their resistance against this massive aggression.

SANA: Russian FM: any military intervention in Syria will leave severe repercussions in the Middle East and north Africa
Sydney Morning Herald: Iran warns US against action on Syria - Video
Zero Hedge: "Military Intervention In Syria", US Training "Rebels" Since 2011
And The Complete Grand Plan - The March 2012 Leak
PressTV/Kevin Barrett: US military intervention in Syria can lead to WWIII: Analyst

● Americans strongly oppose U.S. intervention in Syria's civil war [it's not a civil war] and believe Washington should stay out of the conflict [the US and Israel are behind the "conflict"] even if reports that Syria's government used deadly chemicals to attack civilians are confirmed, a Reuters/Ipsos poll says. ● About 60 percent of Americans surveyed said the United States should not intervene in Syria's civil war, while just 9 percent thought President Barack Obama should act. ● More Americans would back intervention if it is established that chemical weapons have been used, but even that support has dipped in recent days - just as Syria's civil war has escalated and the images of hundreds of civilians allegedly killed by chemicals appeared on television screens and the Internet.