U.S. and Russian officials now believe the vast majority of Syria’s
nerve agent stockpile consists of “unweaponized” liquid precursors that
could be neutralized relatively quickly, lowering the risk that the
toxins could be hidden away by the regime or stolen by terrorists.
A confidential assessment by the two governments also concludes that
Syria’s entire arsenal could be destroyed in about nine months, assuming
Syrian officials honor promises to surrender control of its chemical
assets to international inspectors, according to two people briefed on
the analysis.