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Assad is like Hitler: Kerry

Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday compared Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad to “Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein” — as lab tests proved the sarin nerve agent was used to kill nearly 1,500 civilians.

“Bashar al-Assad now joins the list of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein who have used these weapons in time of war,” Kerry told NBC’s “Face the Nation.”

Kerry called the attack an “affront against the decency and sensibilities of the world.”

“In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States that have now been tested from first responders in east Damascus, and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of sarin,” Kerry said.

Sarin, also known as GB, is a highly toxic poison developed by Germany in 1938 for use as a pesticide. It is a colorless, odorless and tasteless liquid that is highly volatile, and its vapor can be absorbed through the skin, lungs or eyes.

During the 1990s, the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo twice released sarin — once on Tokyo’s subways — killing 20 people and injuring more than 5,000.

It’s also believed to have been used during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, including in hundreds of chemical attacks by the late Saddam Hussein that killed up to 5,000 Kurds in northern Iraq.

The development, stockpiling and use of sarin as a weapon of mass destruction is banned under the United Nations’ Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993. Only six countries, including Syria, have refused to sign the treaty.

Inside Syria, the main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said Assad ordered detainees moved to military targets for use as human shields against possible US strikes.A woman in another area said soldiers had moved into a school next to her home.