In 2018 , Hersh told an interviewer , " I do n't necessarily buy the story that Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11 . We really do n't have an ending to the story . I ’ve known people in the intelligence community . We do n't know anything empirical about who did what . " During the Syrian Civil War US President Obama argued in a 2012 speech that a chemical attack in Syria would constitute crossing a " red line " and that this would trigger a US military intervention against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad . After this speech , and prior to the chemical attacks in Ghouta , chemical weapons were suspected to have been used in at least four attacks in the country . On March 23 , 2013 , the Syrian government requested the UN to send inspectors in order to investigate an incident in the town of Khan al-Assal , where it said opposition forces had used chlorine-filled rockets . However , on April 25 US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stated that US intelligence showed the Assad government was likely to have used chemical weapons , in this case sarin gas
chemical attacks in Ghouta
Ghouta chemical attack
Seymour Hersh