Syria crisis: No 'slam dunk' proof Bashar al-Assad was behind Syrian chemical attack, say US officials

Phrase 'slam dunk' is a reference to CIA language used ahead of Iraq warDespite doubts, US is still expected to go alone to launch limited airstrikeObama prepared to go ahead despite rejection of military action by Britain

By David Gardner

PUBLISHED: 00:30 GMT, 30 August 2013 | UPDATED: 00:53 GMT, 30 August 2013

Intelligence reports on the Syrian chemical attack far from prove that President Bashar al-Assad was responsible, US officials said last night.

One admitted the evidence was ‘not a slam dunk’ - a pointed reference to language used by the CIA to describe intelligence on weapons of mass destruction ahead of the Iraq war.

Despite those doubts, United States is expected to go it alone to launch a limited airstrike on Syria.

Military intervention: A US Air Force plane lands at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey yesterday. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said the inspection team in Syria is expected to complete its work by today

President Barack Obama is prepared to go ahead despite last night’s rejection of military action by Britain, according to senior US administration officials.

Last night the White House briefed national security staff and senior lawmakers to lay the groundwork for missile strikes, which could come as soon as tomorrow.

On Wednesday, President Obama declared that the Syrian regime was responsible for the chemical attack.

Yesterday he ordered a classified report which makes America’s case for intervention to be made public. 

But Washington officials insisted that the report was ‘not a slam dunk’. The basketball term was a deliberate reference to claims made by former CIA director George Tenet in 2002.

He said US intelligence showing  that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a ‘slam dunk.’ That intelligence turned out to be wrong.

Plan: President Barack Obama is prepared to go ahead with a limited airstrike on Syria despite last night?s rejection of military action by Britain, according to senior US administration officials

The declassified report does not contain a smoking gun directly linking Assad to the massacre that killed at least 350 people last week, officials said.

American satellites have captured images of Syrian troops moving trucks into weapons storage areas and removing materials, but analysts have not been able to track what was moved or, in some cases, where it was relocated.

This means a possible series of US cruise missile strikes aimed at crippling Assad’s military infrastructure could hit newly hidden supplies of chemical weapons, accidentally triggering another attack.

The US also intercepted a phone call in which Syrian military officials discussed the strike, but the staff were only low-level, the officials said.

It did not contain any direct evidence tying the attack back to Assad or even a senior Syrian commander – the link the White House is looking for.

It wants to rule out the possibility that a rogue element of the military decided to use chemical weapons without authorisation.

So while Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that links between the attack and the Assad government were ‘undeniable,’ US intelligence officials are not certain that it was carried out on Assad’s orders.

Claim: Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that links between the attack and the Assad government were 'undeniable'

They are not even completely sure it was carried out by government forces.

Despite these reservations, Mr Obama was said to be confident that there was sufficient evidence to act once UN inspectors have left Syria tomorrow.

The strike is likely to be a cruise missile bombardment from US destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, probably only lasting for a couple of days.

A fifth US warship was expected to arrive in the region today.

A US State Department official said President Obama would not wait for Britain, explaining: ‘We can’t wait. We need to act according to our own national interests. We need to act. Why do we need to wait for a UN report to tell us what we already know?’

Asked why the US had to go it alone in Syria while Europe hesitated, congressman Eliot Engel, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said: ‘It’s difficult to answer that question.’

He didn’t openly criticise Britain, but added: ‘As the US we stand for something. We stand for democracy. We stand for human rights. In the US we have principles.

'These are difficult decisions. We don’t take them lightly. I think the world has to show its revulsion and this is a way of doing it. The worst choice we can do is to do nothing.’

Russia is sending an anti- submarine battleship and a missile cruiser to the eastern Mediterranean in a move described as ‘gunboat diplomacy’ over Syria. Experts say the bolstering of Moscow’s naval presence could potentially give the Assad regime early warning of Western submarine cruise missile launches, or jam radars and navigation systems._taboola.push({mode: 'autosized-generated-text-under-1r-row', container: 'taboola-below-main-column', placement: 'below-main-column'});_taboola.push({flush:true}); DM.BC.videoAdServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=8x8&iu=%2F7023%2Fdm.video%2Fdm_video_news&ciu_szs=&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url=[referrer_url]&correlator=[timestamp]";if (window.ArticlePage && MobileUtils.isMobile()) {new ArticlePage();}

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George-Josif Blaj: convicted Romanian rapist allowed in Britain despite similar attack in homeland

George-Josif Blaj, 20, convicted of sex attack on woman in NorthamptonEntered UK despite conviction for similar rape in Romania aged 16
Sentenced to 15 years in prison and will then be deportedBut MP calls decision to let him in the country in first place 'appalling'Onus for flagging EU individual's criminal history lies with home country

By Paul Bentley

PUBLISHED: 13:42 GMT, 29 August 2013 | UPDATED: 01:00 GMT, 30 August 2013

Vile: George-Josef Blaj broke into a young woman's house before beating and raping her

A convicted Romanian rapist brutally attacked a young woman in her own home within weeks of  arriving in Britain.

George-Josif Blaj, 20, fled to the UK after judges released him three years into a prison sentence for a horrific rape and three robberies in his home country.

Less than three months after arriving in Britain, he broke into the woman’s home in the early hours and throttled her until she was unconscious.

When she awoke, she begged him to take her money but he refused, flashing a knife at her, battering her with a spade and subjecting her to a violent rape.

Jailing him for 15 years yesterday, a judge branded Blaj a rapist ‘of the most extreme nature’.

The girl’s friends, meanwhile, said she stopped feeling safe in the UK and had emigrated for fear of further attacks.

And MPs demanded to know why a criminal with such an ‘appalling’ history of violence was ever allowed into the country.

Blaj, a drink and drug abuser, was jailed as a minor in Romania in 2009 after he raped a woman in his home town Zarnesti, 125 miles north of Bucharest, when he was 16.

Because he was so young, he was sentenced to serve just four-and-a-half years for the sexual assault and three robberies and was granted a conditional release after serving two thirds of his sentence.

Border controls have effectively been eroded by free movement directives issued by Brussels, which mean Britain must open its doors to people from other EU countries, even convicted criminals.

Anyone coming to the UK from outside the EU faces stringent tests and must apply for a visa, giving details of their criminal history.

When it comes to most of those arriving from inside the EU, however, the Border Agency has no way of knowing their criminal record.

They are checked against a range of watch-lists – which include suspected terrorists, those wanted by police, certain sex offenders, and people excluded from the UK.

But British police rely on other countries to provide them with the details. The system breaks down when the offender’s home country does not come forward with this information.

Cynically, foreign countries within the EU may even withhold information because they would rather their murderers were in the UK than at home. If they are not informed, British police have no way of checking a foreigner’s criminal convictions.

But none of the conditions barred Blaj from travelling abroad and within weeks he moved to Britain, where his conviction was not flagged up.

Less than three months later, on February 1 this year, he broke into a house in Northampton by climbing through a bathroom window.

The victim, 24, awoke at around 7am to find him standing over her bed clutching a shovel. She saw a knife by the bed before he reached down and throttled her.

She lost consciousness and he waited for her to come back around, when she begged him to take her money and her laptop and leave.

Instead, he raped her and when she tried to scream, he attacked her with the spade, leaving her face and hair soaked in blood.

He was eventually caught after the girl’s best friend and housemate heard a commotion and walked in to see Blaj holding the spade.

‘I thought [my friend] was out for the night. I opened the door and saw the guy. Everything was in a big mess and he was holding a shovel,’ she said.

‘I couldn’t see [my friend] so I thought he was robbing the house.

‘I ran back to my room and locked it and he started banging on the door to make me afraid. I called the police and thought he would leave but he went back to [my friend’s] room.’

Blaj fled after officers arrived but was found nearby.

Jailed: Blaj was sentenced to 15 years in prison at Northampton Crown Court and will be deported afterwards

The Latvian victim’s friend only realised she had been attacked when she suddenly emerged from her room dazed and bloodied.

She was naked but had covered herself with a bed sheet.

The friend said: ‘After she came home from the police and the hospital, she packed her things. Within a fortnight she left for Canada. She was so scared?…?Everywhere that she turned there were reminders of what had happened.’

Criticism: MP Michael Ellis hit out at Romanian authorities claiming they did not inform the UK that Blaj had a serious conviction

Blaj was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault, burglary and rape despite claiming to have no memory of the attack, saying he had taken drugs and alcohol beforehand.

He also admitted burgling a mosque in Northampton.

On August 22 at Northampton Crown Court, he was given a sentence of 15 years , with 11 years to be served in custody and four years on licence.

He will be deported after he serves his sentence. Judge Rupert Mayo said Blaj was a rapist ‘of the most extreme nature’. ‘This has left the victim with permanent psychological scarring,’ he said.

Addressing Blaj, he added: ‘What makes this case more disturbing is your young age and your previous convictions for rape and burglary in Romania.’

Michael Ellis, MP for Northampton North, said: ‘This is another appalling example of a person who has been permitted to enter the UK despite the fact that his presence was against the public’s interest.

‘The question needs to be asked why the Romanian authorities did not inform the UK that this person should not be permitted entry.’

The Home Office said people travelling to the UK were checked against a range of watch-lists but the onus for flagging someone’s criminal  history is with the authorities in their home country.

‘Where we receive information that foreign nationals present a genuine threat to society, we are able to take action to prevent their entry to the UK,’ a spokesman added.

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