Dear Colleague Letter: Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE), Directorate of Geosciences (GEO) Employment Opportunity Chemical Oceanography (Open Until Filled)

OCE 14-001

Dear Colleague Letter: Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE), Directorate of Geosciences (GEO) Employment Opportunity – Chemical Oceanography (Open Until Filled)

October 31, 2013

The Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE) announces a nationwide search for a researcher to serve as Program Director in the Chemical Oceanography Program. Formal consideration of applications will begin on November 15, 2013 and continue until a selection is made.

NSF Program Directors bear the primary responsibility for carrying out the agency's overall mission to support innovative and merit-reviewed activities in basic research and education that contribute to the nation's technical strength, security, and welfare. To fulfill this responsibility requires not only knowledge in the appropriate disciplines, but also a commitment to high standards, a considerable breadth of interest and receptivity to new ideas, a strong sense of fairness, good judgment, and a high degree of personal integrity.

This specific position requires an individual with broad expertise and demonstrated experience in chemical oceanography or the related fields of marine chemistry, biogeochemistry, geochemistry, or chemical engineering. Applicants must have a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography or related field, plus six or more years of successful research, research administration and/or managerial experience pertinent to the position.

The Chemical Oceanography Program supports research into the chemical components, reaction mechanisms, and geochemical pathways within the ocean and at its interfaces with the solid earth and the atmosphere. Major emphases include: studies of material inputs to and outputs from marine waters; orthochemical and biological production and transformation of chemical compounds and phases within the marine system; and the determination of reaction rates and study of equilibria. The Program encourages research into the chemistry, distribution, and fate of inorganic and organic substances introduced into or produced within marine environments including those from estuarine waters to the deep sea. The program director will also be expected to represent the program on cross-divisional, cross-foundational, and interagency initiatives as needed. Further information about the Division of Ocean Science and its programs can be found here.

Interested individuals are encouraged to contact the lead Program Director for Chemical Oceanography, Don Rice (703-292-7708 or drice@nsf.gov). To apply for the position, please submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and the names of three references to Don Rice (drice@nsf.gov) with the subject line – Application for Chemical Oceanography Program Director. Applications are first reviewed by the program and a committee composed of 3-4 program directors from programs throughout NSF. Hiring recommendations will be made to the Section Head of the Ocean Section with final approval by the Division Director.

The position may be filled with one of the following appointment alternatives:

Intergovernmental Personnel Assignment (IPA) Act: Individuals eligible for an IPA assignment with a Federal agency include employees of State and local government agencies or institutions of higher education, Indian tribal governments, and other eligible organizations in instances where such assignments would be of mutual benefit to the organizations involved. Initial assignments under IPA provisions may be made for a period up to two years, with a possible extension for up to an additional two-year period. The individual remains an employee of the home institution and NSF provides the negotiated funding toward the assignee's salary and benefits. Initial IPA assignments are made for a one-year period and may be extended by mutual agreement.

Visiting Scientist Appointment: Appointment to this position will be made under the Excepted Authority of the NSF Act. Visiting Scientists are on non-paid leave status from their home institution and placed on the NSF payroll. NSF withholds Social Security taxes and pays the home institution's contributions to maintain retirement and fringe benefits (i.e., health benefits and life insurance), either directly to the home institution or to the carrier. Appointments are usually made for a one-year period and may be extended for an additional year by mutual agreement.

Temporary Excepted Service Appointment: Appointment to this position will be made under the Excepted Authority of the NSF Act. Candidates who do not have civil service or reinstatement eligibility will not obtain civil service status if selected. Candidates currently in the competitive service will be required to waive competitive civil service rights if selected. Usual civil service benefits (retirement, health benefits, and life insurance) are applicable for appointments of more than one year. Temporary appointments may not exceed three years.

For additional information on NSF's rotational programs, please visit: http://www.nsf.gov/about/career_opps/rotators/.

Applications will be accepted from U.S. Citizens. Recent changes in Federal Appropriations Law requires Non-Citizens to meet certain eligibility criteria to be considered. Therefore, Non-Citizens must certify eligibility by signing and attaching this Citizenship Affidavit to their application.  Non-Citizens who do not provide the affidavit at the time of the application will be considered as an IPA only.

NSF IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER COMMITTED TO EMPLOYING A
HIGHLY QUALIFIED STAFF THAT REFLECTS THE DIVERSITY OF OUR NATION

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Dear Colleague Letter: The Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) Employment Opportunities for Program Director (Open Until Filled)

CBET 13-007

Dear Colleague Letter: The Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) Employment Opportunities for Program Director (Open Until Filled)

DATE: September 26, 2013

Dear Colleague:

The Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET), within the Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation (NSF), announces a nationwide search for an engineering professional to fill the following position:

Program Director:?Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology Program

Formal consideration of interested applicants will begin September 30, 2013, with an approximate beginning appointment date of April 2014.

While disciplinary expertise will be expected for the program director, the focus of the search is to locate a scholarly, open-minded, diverse and intellectually integrated individual to join the present team in sharing The Engineering Directorate’s responsibilities within NSF’s overall mission:?to promote the progress of science and engineering; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.

The Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology program provides support to examine and mitigate the environmental effects of nanotechnologies. Fundamental research is sought to understand, evaluate, and lessen the impact of nanotechnology on the environment and biological systems. The program emphasizes engineering principles underlying the environmental health and safety impacts of nanotechnology. Innovative methods related to clean nanomaterial production processes, waste reduction, recycling, and industrial ecology of nanotechnology are also of interest.

NSF Program Directors bear the primary responsibility for carrying out the Agency’s overall mission. To discharge this responsibility requires not only knowledge in the appropriate disciplines, but also a commitment to high standards, a considerable breadth of interest and receptivity to new ideas, a strong sense of fairness, good judgment, and a high degree of personal integrity.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. or equivalent professional experience in the relevant discipline, plus after the award of the Ph.D., six or more years of successful research, research administration and/or substantial managerial experience in academe, industry, or government. Appointees are expected to have significant and relevant knowledge of research related to the program. Also desirable is knowledge of the general scientific community, skill in written communication and preparation of technical reports, an ability to communicate orally, and several years of successful independent research of the kind normally expected of the academic rank of associate or full professor. Research accomplishments on topics related to the program are highly desirable. All appointees are expected to function effectively both within specific programs and in a team mode, contributing to and coordinating with organizations in the Directorate, across the Foundation, and with other Federal and State government agencies and private-sector organizations as necessary. Such responsibilities can include serving on committees developing new administrative approaches and implementing new focused research activities.

Periodic appointments to leadership of inter-divisional, inter-directorate and interagency programs may be made. NSF is an equal opportunity employer committed to employing a highly qualified staff that reflects the diversity of our nation. Program Director positions recruited under this announcement may be filled by one of the following appointment options:

Intergovernmental Personnel Assignment (IPA) Act: Individuals eligible for an IPA assignment with a Federal agency include employees of State and local government agencies or institutions of higher education, Indian tribal governments, and other eligible organizations in instances where such assignments would be of mutual benefit to the organizations involved. Initial assignments under IPA provisions may be made for a period up to two years, with a possible extension for up to an additional two-year period. The individual remains an employee of the home institution and NSF provides the negotiated funding toward the assignee’s salary and benefits. Initial IPA assignments are made for a one-year period and may be extended by mutual agreement.

Visiting Scientist Appointment: Appointment to this position will be made under the Excepted Authority of the NSF Act. Visiting Scientists are on non-paid leave status from their home institution and placed on the NSF payroll. NSF withholds Social Security taxes and pays the home institution’s contributions to maintain retirement and fringe benefits (i.e., health benefits and life insurance), either directly to the home institution or to the carrier. Appointments are usually made for a one-year period and may be extended for an additional year by mutual agreement.

Temporary Excepted Service Appointment: Appointment to this position will be made under the Excepted Authority of the NSF Act. Candidates who do not have civil service or reinstatement eligibility will not obtain civil service status if selected. Candidates currently in the competitive service will be required to waive competitive civil service rights if selected. Usual civil service benefits (retirement, health benefits, and life insurance) are applicable for appointments of more than one year. Temporary appointments may not exceed three years.

For additional information on NSF’s rotational programs, please see “Programs for Scientists, Engineers, and Educators” on the NSF website at: http://www.nsf.gov/about/career_opps/.

Applications accepted from US Citizens. Recent changes in Federal Appropriations Law require Non-Citizens to meet certain eligibility criteria to be considered. Therefore, Non-Citizens must certify eligibility by signing and attaching this Citizenship Affidavit to their application. Non-citizens who do not provide the affidavit at the time of application will be considered as an IPA only.

Should you or your colleagues be interested in this position, or wish to nominate suitable candidates, please email a current CV accompanied by a cover letter that highlights the background that specifically relates to the program objectives to cbetsearch@nsf.gov

Please contact Dr. Robert Wellek with questions.

Dr. Robert Wellek, Deputy Division Director
Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET)
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Room 565
Arlington, Virginia?22230
Phone: (703) 292-8320? | Fax: (703) 292-9054?| e-mail: rwellek@nsf.gov

NSF IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER COMMITTED TO EMPLOYING
A HIGHLY QUALIFIED STAFF THAT REFLECTS THE DIVERSITY OF OUR NATION

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Obama to explore diplomatic route on Syria chemical weapons

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the nation about the situation in Syria from the East Room at the White House in Washington, September 10, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Evan Vucci/POOL

By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON | Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:07am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday to explore a diplomatic plan from Russia to take away Syria's chemical weapons, but voiced skepticism about it and urged Americans to support his threat to use military force if needed.

Faced with resistance in polls and Congress to the use of force against Syria, Obama said a Russian offer to pressure President Bashar al-Assad to place his government's chemical weapons under international control raised the chances of putting off the limited military strike that he is considering.

"Over the last few days, we've seen some encouraging signs," Obama said in televised speech from the White House that attempted to offer a clear case for why it is in Americans' interests to intervene in Syria's civil war.

Obama asked leaders in Congress to put off a vote on his request to authorize the use of military force to let diplomacy play out. He said U.S. Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean and other forces in the region are in place and ready to respond should diplomacy fail.

The Russian initiative gave Obama some breathing space since it has been far from certain whether he would win a vote in Congress on attacking Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack last month that Washington has blamed on Assad's forces.

In a speech of only 16 minutes, Obama gave perhaps the most coherent expression of his Syria policy to date following weeks of muddled messages by his administration as opposition to a U.S. military strike mounted.

"If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons," said Obama. "As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them."

Under the threat of U.S. missile strikes and with roughly half of Syria controlled by rebels, the Assad government accepted the proposal from its ally Russia earlier on Tuesday.

"It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed. And any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad's strongest allies," said Obama.

He set no deadlines for diplomacy to run its course but said the United States will work with Russia and China to put forward a resolution at the U.N. Security Council requiring Assad to give up his supplies of sarin, mustard gas and VX nerve agents. Russia and China have been reluctant to support action against Syria.

RELYING ON PUTIN

The Russian diplomatic initiative, which emerged after off-the-cuff remarks by Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday alluding to such an idea, marked a sudden reversal following weeks in which the West seemed headed toward intervening in Syria's 2-1/2-year-old civil war.

Obama now finds himself somewhat dependent on Russian President Vladimir Putin to use his influence on Syria. It is a remarkable turnaround in relations between two leaders who are wary of each other and have bickered all year, particularly over Russia's decision to give temporary asylum to former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Some influential members of Congress were deeply skeptical about whether the diplomatic effort will succeed given U.S. mistrust of both Russia and Assad and the difficulties of verifying chemical weapons stocks during a civil war.

Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two hawks on Syria, said Washington should introduce a tough U.N. Security Council resolution that lays out what steps Syria would have to take to give up its chemical weapons and threaten serious consequences if the Assad government does not.

"We would expect Russia and China to support such a resolution without delay," they said.

Obama used much of his speech to lay out the case against Syria, saying there was plenty of evidence showing that the Assad government was behind the August 21 chemical weapons attack that killed 1,429 people, including more than 400 children.

He argued that Syria should face consequences for using such weapons because much of the world has adopted a ban them. If the civilized world does nothing to respond, it will only embolden U.S. adversaries and increase the chances that U.S. troops might one day face these weapons on the battlefield, Obama said.

In a sign of the shifting political mood in Washington toward diplomacy, a group of Republican and Democratic senators began drafting a modified resolution on the use of military force that would give the United Nations time to take control of Syria's chemical weapons.

Obama offered a moral argument for why he feels the United States has a global obligation to respond to the Syrian chemical weapons onslaught. He portrayed the August 21 attack near Damascus in graphic terms.

"The images from this massacre are sickening: men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas; others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath; a father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk," he said.

Any U.S. military action would be limited, he said, nothing like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that he has spent much of his presidency winding down. No American troops will be on the ground in Syria if action is taken, Obama said.

"This would be a targeted strike to achieve a clear objective, deterring the use of chemical weapons and degrading Assad's capabilities," he said.

He insisted U.S. military action would still have an impact, pushing back against some members of Congress who argue there is no point in doing a "pinprick" strike in Syria.

"Let me make something clear: The United States military doesn't do pinpricks. Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver," he said.

Still, the overwhelming message from Obama was that he would like to avoid taking military action, a reflection of his personal view toward diplomacy and a response to polls showing Americans are opposed.

It was unclear if Obama had changed any hearts and minds in Congress.

Republican Congressman Chris Collins of New York said Obama's speech had moved him from being undecided to "no" on possible military action.

"I had given the commander in chief the benefit of the doubt. I was hoping the commander in chief would have a compelling argument (for military force)," said Collins. "He did not. He did not even come close."

(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal and Thomas Ferraro; Editing by Alistair Bell and Christopher Wilson)

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Syria vows to give up chemical weapons, Obama cautious about deal

1 of 14. Free Syrian Army fighters rest as they eat and drink near Hanano Barracks, which is controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo September 11, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Muzaffar Salman

By Phil Stewart and Khaled Yacoub Oweis

WASHINGTON/AMMAN | Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:04am EDT

WASHINGTON/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria accepted a Russian proposal on Tuesday to give up chemical weapons but U.S. President Barack Obama said it was too early to tell if the initiative would succeed and he vowed to keep military forces at the ready to strike if diplomacy fails.

In a televised address to Americans, Obama pledged to explore Russia's proposal for Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control, while expressing skepticism about the initiative.

He said he had asked the U.S. Congress to postpone a vote on authorizing military action while Washington and its allies try to pass a United Nations resolution requiring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up the weapons in a verifiable way.

In a sign of how hard that will be, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that the chemical weapons plan would only succeed if Washington and its allies rule out military action.

In what amounted to the most explicit, high-level admission by Syria that it has chemical weapons, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said in a statement shown on Russian state television that Damascus was committed to the Russian initiative.

"We want to join the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons. We are ready to observe our obligations in accordance with that convention, including providing all information about these weapons," Moualem said.

"We are ready to declare the location of the chemical weapons, stop production of the chemical weapons, and show these (production) facilities to representatives of Russia and other United Nations member states," he said.

Obama said there had been "encouraging signs" in recent days, in part because of the U.S. threat of military action to punish Assad for what Washington says was the use of poison gas to kill 1,400 civilians in Damascus on August 21.

"It is too early to tell whether this offer will succeed," Obama said. "And any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force."

Moscow has previously vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions that would have condemned the Syrian government over the conflict.

The latest proposal "can work only if we hear that the American side and all those who support the United States in this sense reject the use of force," Putin said in televised remarks.

Obama said he was sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Thursday for further talks, and he himself would continue discussions with Putin.

Amid the whirlwind of diplomatic activity focused on the response to the chemical weapons attack, the civil war resumed in earnest on Tuesday with Assad's jets again bombing rebel positions in the capital.

UNITED NATIONS

An initial U.N. Security Council resolution, drafted by France, would demand that Syria make a complete declaration of its chemical weapons program within 15 days and immediately open all related sites to U.N. inspectors or face possible punitive measures.

The French draft resolution, seen by Reuters, adds that the Security Council would intend "in the event of non-compliance by the Syrian authorities with the provisions of this resolution ... to adopt further necessary measures under Chapter VII" of the U.N. Charter.

Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter covers the 15-nation Security Council's power to take steps ranging from sanctions to military interventions. It is the reference to Chapter 7, U.N. diplomats say, that has made Russia reluctant to support the initial French draft.

Russia has made clear it wanted to take the lead on any resolution. Lavrov told his French counterpart that Moscow would propose a U.N. draft declaration, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Obama said he would work with allies as well as Russia and China, both of which have veto powers on the Security Council, to craft a U.N. resolution. He gave no timetable for how long he would wait for such talks to play out.

"Meanwhile, I've ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails," Obama said.

The president also reiterated his arguments for why it would be in the national security interests of the United States to punish Syria for using chemical weapons if diplomacy fails.

"If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons," Obama said. "As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them."

PUTIN: "NO THREAT OF FORCE"

The United States and France had been poised to launch missile strikes to punish Assad's forces, which they blame for the chemical weapons attack. Syria denies it was responsible and, with the backing of Moscow, blames rebels for staging the attacks to provoke U.S. intervention.

The White House said Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande had agreed in a telephone call on their preference for a diplomatic solution, but that they should continue to prepare for "a full range of responses."

While the prospects of a deal remain uncertain, the proposal could provide a way for Obama to avoid ordering military strikes. Opinion polls show most Americans are opposed to military intervention in Syria, weary after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Whether international inspectors can neutralize chemical weapons dumps while war rages in Syria remains open to question.

Western states believe Syria has a vast undeclared chemical arsenal. Sending inspectors to destroy it would be hard even in peace and extraordinarily complicated in the midst of a civil war.

The two main precedents are ominous: U.N. inspectors dismantled the chemical arsenal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the 1990s but left enough doubt to provide the basis for a U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was rehabilitated by the West after agreeing to give up his banned weapons, only to be overthrown with NATO help in 2011.

SYRIAN REBELS DISMAYED

The Syrian war has already killed more than 100,000 people and driven millions from their homes. It threatens to spread violence across the Middle East, with countries endorsing the sectarian divisions that brought civil war to Lebanon and Iraq.

The wavering from the West dealt an unquestionable blow to the Syrian opposition, which had thought it had finally secured military intervention after pleading for two and a half years for help from Western leaders who vocally opposed Assad.

The rebel Syrian National Coalition decried a "political maneuver which will lead to pointless procrastination and will cause more death and destruction to the people of Syria."

Assad's warplanes bombed rebellious districts inside the Damascus city limits on Tuesday for the first time since the poison gas attacks. Rebels said the strikes demonstrated that the government had concluded the West had lost its nerve.

"By sending the planes back, the regime is sending the message that it no longer feels international pressure," activist Wasim al-Ahmad said from Mouadamiya, one of the districts of the capital hit by the chemical attack.

The Russian proposal "is a cheap trick to buy time for the regime to kill more and more people," said Sami, a member of the local opposition coordinating committee in the Damascus suburb of Erbin, also hit by last month's poison gas attack.

Troops and pro-Assad militiamen tried to seize the northern district of Barzeh and the eastern suburb of Deir Salman near Damascus airport, working-class Sunni Muslim areas where opposition activists and residents reported street fighting.

Fighter jets bombed Barzeh three times and pro-Assad militia backed by army tank fire made a push into the area. Air raids were also reported on the Western outskirts near Mouadamiya.

However, Damascenes in pro-Assad areas were grateful for a reprieve from Western strikes: "Russia is the voice of reason. They know that if a strike went ahead against Syria, then World War Three - even Armageddon - would befall Europe and America," said Salwa, a Shi'ite Muslim in the affluent Malki district.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations, Thomas Grove and Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Steve Holland, Jeff Mason, Mark Felsenthal, Patricia Zengerle, Arshad Mohammed, Richard Cowan, Paul Eckert and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Writing by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Jim Loney and Christopher Wilson)

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Syria's chemical weapons; decades to build, years to destroy

A U.N. chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus August 29, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Mohamed Abdullah

By Anthony Deutsch

AMSTERDAM | Wed Sep 11, 2013 11:19am EDT

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - If Saddam Hussein's Iraq is anything to go by, destroying Syria's massive chemical weapons arsenal will mean checking dozens of far-flung sites in a war zone while the government employs delaying tactics to hide the banned munitions, an expert involved in past U.N. disarmament missions said.

Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons network comprises remote underground bunkers where hundreds of tons of nerve agents are stored, scud missiles and artillery shells, possibly armed with cyanide, and factories deep inside hostile territory used to produce mustard or VX gas, experts believe.

"It's big. He has one of the biggest chemical weapons programs in the region and even in the world," said Dieter Rothbacher, a former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq who trained members of the team that just returned from Syria.

"There are calculations that to secure them up to 75,000 ground troops are needed," he said in a Reuters interview. "It took us three years to destroy that stuff under U.N. supervision in Iraq."

First there needs to be an iron-clad agreement, either by Syria joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, but more likely in the form of a U.N. Security Council agreement, in which Damascus relinquishes control of the weapons.

It could be similar to Iraq, where a U.N. Security Council resolution forcing Iraq to declare and destroy its chemical weapons. Certain militaries are already preparing for that scenario, Rothbacher said.

Russia proposed on Monday that Damascus could avoid U.S. military action to punish it for allegedly using chemical weapons in an attack in Damascus last month by agreeing to put its stockpiles under international control.

The Syrian chemical weapons program, set up in the 1970s, reportedly with assistance from Iran and Russia and supplies of raw chemicals from Western companies, was designed to counter Israel.

Its stockpile is believed by Western intelligence to be spread over dozens of sites and includes research and development centers and multiple production sites, some of them underground.

Along with Egypt and Israel, Syria is one of just seven countries that is not a member of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, overseen by the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Even if Syria follows through with the Russian plan drafted this week to let inspectors in, history also shows there is no guarantee of smooth sailing.

CAT-AND-MOUSE TACTICS

Syria's civil war, now in its third year, has already cost 100,000 lives, excluding as many as 1,400 believed to have been killed in the gas attack in Damascus on August 21, and security will be a major concern.

"Cruise missiles were coming in when we were stationed in Baghdad and we were flying out every day for the destruction," said Rothbacher, who now co-owns a weapons training consultancy, Hotzone Solutions.

Inspectors would begin by mapping out suspected locations and visiting them, then assemble chemicals and munitions at a purpose-built destruction facility.

"The Iraqis had moved all their munitions. They moved the bulk (chemicals). They spread it out, which made our work much more difficult," Rothbacher said, describing how Saddam's forces tried to undermine their efforts.

U.S. officials believe Syria has been moving its chemical stocks, which will make it harder to account for them.

Assad spent decades building an arsenal to deter the militarily superior Israel, which reportedly has both conventional and non-conventional weapons.

Elements of the Syrian military and intelligence apparatus consider destroying the chemical weapons a huge sacrifice that will compromise Syria's regional strategic position and possibly weaken them domestically.

Some experts believe the chemical weapons destruction cannot go ahead during war and warned that Assad may apply the delaying tactics used by Saddam to throw off inspectors.

"He knows that the inspectors must have the cooperation of the inspected state and he certainly saw in chapter and verse how Saddam Hussein's Iraq repeatedly did everything to hinder the inspectors," said Amy Smithson, an expert in chemical warfare at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Another priority will be ensuring the weapons don't fall into the hands of militant groups seeking to further destabilize the region.

"It's a tricky business to keep iron-clad control of multiple chemical sites that are located in urban settings that are themselves engulfed in an urban war," Smithson said.

(Editing by Giles Elgood)

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