There is no doubt that there was a chemical attack in the Goota area on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21. Hundreds of people lost their lives in it. But the question is , who carried out the attack ? Western nations , including Turkey and the Arab League , have blamed Assad's men for the attack. Russia and Iran say the opposition is responsible. The two states have accused the rebels of trying to provoke a humanitarian catastrophe by spreading poison gas and killing scores of people to encourage them to invade Syria . U.S. intelligence says it has recorded phone conversations with Syrian Defense Ministry officials after the attack and has learned that those officials talked about the chemical attack. Defense Ministry officials also asked a chemical weapons department to explain how the attack happened. If the intelligence is correct , then the army is responsible for the attack .