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http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_04_26/US-may-use-military-force-against-Syria-White-House/
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The White House says that United States President Barack Obama may approve of using military force against the Syrian government. On Friday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that the administration has a number of options in regards to handling reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons, and those routes include but are not exclusive to using military force.
Fielding a question from the media during the afternoon presser, Carney said that he could not speculate on what action if any Pres. Obama will pursue against Assad, but said "as a general principal the United States retains the ability to act unilaterally.”
Just one day earlier, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the US intelligence community determined "with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons.” The White House sent a letter to members of the US Senate that morning informing lawmakers that Pres. Assad is believed to have used the odorless liquid sarin on at least two occasions.
"Thus far, we believe that the Assad regime maintains custody of these weapons, and has demonstrated a willingness to escalate its horrific use of violence against the Syrian people," the letter read in part.
Following up on Friday, Carney said, "We still believe based on the information that we have that the stockpiles of chemical weapons in Syria are under control of the Syrian regime.”
"Because of that, Assad is responsible for the disposition of those chemical weapons and it is his responsibility first and foremost not to use them or to transport them to terrorist groups, but to secure them and make sure they aren’t used by anyone else.”
"That’s all I can really say about it. That’s our assessment at this time,” said Carney, adding that the Obama administration is working with allies and partners, including the United Nations and Sthe yrian opposition, to gather credible facts to corroborate earlier reports.
Obama wants facts on Syria chemical weapons first - White House
US President Barack Obama is awaiting a "definitive judgment" on whether the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against rebel fighters before taking action, the White House said Friday.
"We're working to establish credible and corroborated facts," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. "The president wants the facts," he added, saying there was no timeline for further action by the United States.
Damascus wants Russia help in investigating alleged sarin use in Aleppo
Syrian authorities would like to Russian experts to assist them in investigating reports that toxic gas sarin was used by opposition forces in the town of Khan al - Assal, southwest of Aleppo, on April 19, Syria`s Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi told journalists in Damascus.
The regime blames anti-Assad forces for using chemical weapons in Aleppo attack on March 19, while the opposition insists that the army had used chemicals during a battle in Homs in December, 2012.
UN says more than 70,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011.
"Evidence" of Syrian chemical weapon use not up to UN standard
Assertions of chemical weapon use in Syria by Western and Israeli officials citing photos, sporadic shelling and traces of toxins do not meet the standard of proof needed for a U.N. team of experts waiting to gather their own field evidence.
Weapons inspectors will only determine whether banned chemical agents were used in the two-year-old conflict if they are able to access sites and take soil, blood, urine or tissue samples and examine them in certified laboratories.
That type of evidence, needed to show definitively if banned chemicals were found, has not been presented by governments and intelligence agencies accusing Syria of using chemical weapons against insurgents.
"This is the only basis on which the OPCW would provide a formal assessment of whether chemical weapons have been used," Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said.
Sarin apparently used in Aleppo attack- source
Toxic gas, apparently sarin, was used by the opposition forces in the town of Khan al- Assal, southwest of Aleppo, on March 19, a source in the army told Interfax.
"It remains unclear how they accessed sarin”, the source added.
Damascus wants Russian experts to investigate alleged use of chemical weapons
Damascus has proposed that Russian experts investigate whether chemical weapons were used in Syria, said Syrian Information Minister Umran Ahid al-Za'bi.
"If an investigation is wanted at the scene, we propose Russian experts do this work," he told Moscow reporters on Friday.
Chemical arms come to Syria from Turkey - Damascus representative
The chemical weapons used near Aleppo in Syria most probably came from Turkey, Syrian Information Minister Umran Ahid al-Za'bi told reporters in Moscow on Friday.
"The missile flew from the place controlled by terrorists, not far from the Turkish territory. One may presume that the arms might have been brought from Turkey," he said.
He also referred to a documentary on Syrian events which showed Turkish marking on some of the armaments delivered to Syria.
"If you watch the film aired on YouTube, you will see writings in Turkish on certain elements of armaments. If you use a search engine, you will see there is a Turkish company manufacturing dozens of chemicals, including the one that has been used in Syria," the Syrian minister said.
Syrian army denies having chemical arms, blames rebels
The Syrian army does not have chemical weapons and has not used them. The opposition bears full responsibility for the chemical attack near Aleppo, Syrian Information Minister Umran Ahid al-Za'bi replied to an Interfax question.
"That was done by the organizations, among them Al-Qaeda, who threatened they would use chemical arms against Syria. They carried out their threat near Aleppo. There were casualties," he said.
"The Syrian army does not have chemical weapons," the minister stressed.
Syrian authorities deny allegations that state forces used chemical weapons against militants
Syrian Information Minister Omran Al-Zouabi said that state forces have not used chemical weapons.
"As the information minister of the Syrian government, I confirm that the Syrian government and its forces have not and will never use any chemical weapons even if Syria possessed them," the Syrian minister said in an interview with RT Arab language TV channel, Rusiya al-Yaum.
"I said at a recent meeting in the Institute of Oriental Studies that it was impossible for moral and ethic reasons. This refers not only to chemical weapons but to any other kind of weapons of mass destruction, if of course Syria would have them. Our country is among the few countries of the region which do not possess weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, chemical, biological etc," the Syrian minister said.
US statements on Syria could trigger war - Pushkov
Recent reports by the United States where it accuses the Syrian authorities of using chemical weapons, could lead to full-scale war.
A statement to this effect was posted by the head of the parliamentary Committee for International Relations Alexei Pushkov, who wrote in his Twitter blog that the manner in which the United States is currently accusing Syria of using chemical weapons is akin to George W. Bush’s attack on Iraq in which he lashed out at it for possessing nuclear weapons.
US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel cites intelligence reports as saying that the Syrian army has been using chemical weapons, in small quantities.
The White House has described the reports as incomplete.
Voice of Russia, Interfax, RIA, Reuters, TASS, AFP
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