Syria's chemical weapons program decades old

• Syria turned to chemical weapons when nuclear arms were too difficult and expensive
• Chemical weapons stockpile moved from location to location
• Program started in the 1970s or 1980s

WASHINGTON — Syria's chemical weapons program stretches back decades, allowing the country to amass a supply of nerve and blister agents capable of being mounted on long-range missiles that could reach neighboring countries, according to government and independent analysts.

Its program stretches back to the 1970s or '80s — experts disagree on the precise time — as a means of developing a deterrent against Israel's presumed nuclear capabilities, according to analysts and a Congressional Research Service report.

Chemical weapons were considered "the poor man's atomic bomb," said Gregory Koblentz, a security analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Syria has stocks of sarin and VX, which attacks the nervous system, and mustard gas, which burns the skin, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

There is much that is not known about the program, analysts say. "I don't think we have a handle on all of the aspects of the Syrian program," said Michael Eisenstadt, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Syria's military has been moving its chemical weapons around, the Pentagon has said, in an apparent attempt to keep them out of rebel hands.

Also unclear is how many of the stocks are still active, since the chemicals degrade over time. Over recent years, Syria has continued to seek chemical weapon components from foreign countries, according to the DIA.

The components can be used for industrial purposes, and Syria has sought to purchase the supplies by using front companies in third countries, the Congressional Research Service said. They can assemble the chemical weapons inside the country.

In the 1990s, a retired Russian general, Anatoly Kuntsevich, was suspected of assisting in the delivery of precursor chemicals to Syria.

The DIA says Syria has several hundred Scud missiles and chemical warheads developed for at least some of the Scuds. The missiles can reach much of Israel and portions of Iraq, Jordan and Turkey, the DIA said.

For closer targets, the chemical weapons can be fired through rocket launchers and artillery.

Estimates on Syrian stockpiles vary, although Israeli Brig. Gen. Itai Brun claimed recently that Syria has stockpiled 1,000 tons of chemical weapons.

Syria has generally denied having any chemical weapons, but a spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry, Jihad Maqdisi, said last year that Syria would never use chemical weapons and they were secured.

The Syrian government later tried to clarify the statement, claiming it had no chemical weapons.

Syria is one of a handful of nations that the United States says is pursuing an active chemical weapons program, along with Iran and North Korea.

Syria has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was ratified by the United States in 1997. It is an international agreement banning the production of chemical weapons and calling for the destruction of stockpiles.