AMN
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said that the Syrian government is responsible for delays in inspectors reaching sites of a suspected chemical weapons attack, a strategy they had used in the past.
Mattis said before the start of a meeting with his counterpart from Qatar that they are very much aware of the delay that the regime imposed on that delegation but they are also very much aware of how they have operated in the past.
In other words, Syria is using the pause after a strike like to try to clean up the evidence before the investigation team gets in.
So it’s unfortunate they were delayed, Mattis added.