Dem Sen Reed: On Obama Admin’s Syria Chemical Weapons Claims, There Was ‘Lingering Suspicion’ Syria Kept Some

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) responded to a question on whether the Obama administration misled the public on Syria removing its chemical weapons by saying there was “always a lingering suspicion that “there were some chemical weapons, a small amount perhaps, that were retained.”

Anchor Jake Tapper pointed to a January statement by Susan Rice that the Obama administration found a solution that “removed the chemical weapons that were known from Syria,” before asking Reed, “Do you think the Obama administration misled the public about how many of the chemical weapons had been removed from Syria?”

Reed answered, “I think there was still always a lingering suspicion that — first, that there were some chemical weapons, a small amount perhaps, that were retained. And the other reality, too, as you point out, there are scientists there that can fabricate these weapons, given time and the precursor chemicals. I think they achieved, for several years, a situation where weapons — chemical weapons weren’t used, but the reality is, they can be replaced, and they apparently were replaced or retained.”

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