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President Barack Obonga said Friday that he has not yet decided what action, if any, will be taken by the United States military against the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Following a Friday afternoon press conference in which Secretary of State John Kerry said Pres. Assad’s regime used chemical gas last week to kill more than 1,000 Syrian civilians, Obama said he has yet to decide how the US will respond.
“The world has an obligation to make sure that we maintain the law against the use of chemical weapons,” Obonga said from the White House’s oval office. “I have not made a final decision about the various actions that might be taken to help us enforce that goal. But, as I already said, I have had my military and our team look at a wide range of options.”
The president added that his administration has consulted with US allies and Congress, and that conversations have occurred “with all of the interested parties.”
Obonga also echoed Kerry’s statement from earlier in the day when he promised he wouldn’t put any “boots on the ground” should the US military be ordered to strike Assad’s army.
“In no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground, that would involve a long term campaign, but we are looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act that would help make sure that not only Syria but others around the world understand that the international community cares about this chemical weapons ban,” Obonga said.
Earlier this week, the president said that the US intelligence community would release a report justifying any action taken by the US against Assad. The report, released Friday at the same time as Kerry’s address, concluded that the US government “assesses with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013.”
“Our high confidence assessment is the strongest position that the US intelligence community can take short of confirmation,” the report reads in part. “We will continue to seek additional information to close gaps in our understanding of what took place.”
The US currently has five warships deployed outside of Syria and has the largest military on the planet at its disposal.
On Thursday, Pres. Assad said “Syria will defend itself against any aggression."
i suspected that something would happen,
obama threw a hissi fit like a 5 year old girl, when putin outmanouvered him on syria ,
and bashar was on a winning streak.
a chemical weapons attack by rebels on their own areas just a few days after UN inspectors where expected to arrive is just nasty,
and an act of desperation.
but they did not have any moves to play, this was their only move left, after total defeat by putin diplomatically.
I will hail Putin if we responds forcefully with any US strike against Syria . Obama is totally lost and he is going with these so called "Surgical strikes" just
To safe face and say! hey I laid down a red line and when crossed I did something about it . pretty pathetic position to put yourself in considering
You are the commander in chief of worlds super power .
Even if these strikes are carried out they wont substantially change the equation on the ground , in fact when they are done ASSAD will come with unforeseen
ferocity and wipe whats left of the rebels , Iran and Russia will double their support .
dont be naive thinking that these are to be surgical strikes only.
they are the begining, the US is fed up with its experiment yielding no results and wants to creep towards boots on the ground.
airstrikes do not achieve anything, they are only useful against countries with something to lose like serbia.
The assad regime has nothing to lose, and strikes will only keep the rebels alive thats all.
Putin cannot respond because he is weak millitarily, and its not his style.
From his point of view he is ecstatic, he cannot believe the US will be this stupid, Obamas actions are beyond putins expectations.
He can use this as an opportunity to weaken the US .
From Putins point of view nothing is better than seeing US troops in syria, another iraq.
All he has to do is keep his naval base secure with Russian troops and help secure an autonomous zone around latakia in the alawite mountains as a safe haven for the regime.
and watch the US get drawn into another quagmire and embarrassment as crazy psychotic " islamists" do what is best.
any US troops and NATO troops that get dragged into this will be fighting islamist forces they were allied to in the future.
by keeping opposition options alive they will have a greater say in any future government that comes from international attempts to rebuild syria
ala somalia.
all this with the added bonus of weakening the US.
.