Syria Videos Cite 'Toxic' Attack

After Chuck Hagel cautiously acknowledged potential Syrian chemical attacks, a batch of new videos appears to support the claims. The YouTube videos, via an account linked to Syria rebels, show apparently injured men on IVs and oxygen masks alongside others described as doctors, the New York Times reports. The clips cite a chemical attack on March 19. "Missiles came and they exploded, and they discharged something like water, but it was dark. It emitted a very foul smell," says a man in one clip.

Another appears to show a doctor who calls on "the world" to send medications to help victims. "If they can provide us with Obidoxime, we don’t want anything else from them, neither weapons nor support." The US has called for "credible and corroborated facts" to support the attack claims. Chemical experts tell USA Today what kind of evidence they'd ideally like to have: Soil samples, descriptions from witnesses, and, ideally, "samples from a munition or fragment of a munition that tested positive for a known military chemical agent," says one expert with the Council on Foreign Relations. USA Today notes that it's "nearly impossible" to gather such evidence in a war zone. (More Syria stories.)