US weighs military action on Syria
And Britain warns Assad regime that it will not rule out any options which could save innocent lives
THE Pentagon is moving forces into place in case President Barack Obama opts for military action against Syria as US security advisers prepare to meet to discuss how to tackle an apparent chemical attack that left more than 1 000 people dead in Damascus this week.
US commanders had prepared a range of options for Obama should he choose to launch an attack on the Damascus regime, said US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel.
Also, in the strongest condemnation yet from the British government — which believes the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for the chemical weapons attack this week — British Foreign Secretary William Hague blamed Syria and demanded it grant immediate access to UN inspectors, who have been in the country since last Sunday to probe three other sites.
Iran, a long-time ally of the Syrian regime, also acknowledged for the first time that chemical weapons had killed people in Syria and called for the international community to prevent their use.
Tehran has previously accused Syrian rebels of being behind what it called suspected chemical attacks.
Russia, another major ally of the Syrian government, has also blamed opposition forces.
Syria’s uprising against four decades of Assad family rule has become a civil war that has killed more than 100 000 people.
“We do believe this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime on a large scale, but we would like the UN to be able to assess that,” said Hague.
He dismissed suggestions that the attack could have been faked by rebels fighting against Assad’s regime.
“I think the chances of that are vanishingly small,” he said.
“The only possible explanation of what we’ve been able to see is that it was a chemical attack. Clearly, many, many hundreds of people have been killed. Some of the estimates are well over a thousand.”
Hague said there was “no other plausible explanation” than the use of chemical weapons for “casualties so intense, in such a small area, on this scale”.
“This is our priority at the moment: to make sure that a UN team can investigate on the ground and establish the facts.”
If this does not happen, Hague said Britain would return to the UN Security Council to “get a stronger mandate and for the world to speak together more forcefully about this so that there can be access”.
Harrowing footage posted online showing unconscious children and people foaming at the mouth has triggered revulsion around the world.
“This is not something that a humane or civilised world can ignore,” said Hague.
He added that the fact that a UN team in Damascus had not yet been able to visit the site suggested that “the Assad regime has something to hide”.
Britain would not rule out any options in terms of Syria, as long as they complied with international law and could save innocent lives, Hague added.
US officials said Obama’s security advisers would convene
The only possible explanation is that it was a chemical attack
at the White House this weekend to discuss US options, including possible military action, against the Syrian government.
US newspapers have suggested that there are disagreements in the administration over the risks of another American military intervention in the Middle East.
US media reported that warships had been sent to the region for possible cruise missile attacks or other action, but Hague declined to comment on this.
Among the military options under consideration were targeted missile strikes on Syrian units believed to be responsible for chemical attacks, or on Assad’s air force and ballistic missile sites, US officials said. Such strikes could be launched from US ships or combat aircraft capable of firing missiles from outside Syrian airspace, thereby avoiding Syrian air defences.
Seen as more risky — and unlikely — would be a sustained air assault, such as the one conducted in Libya in 2011. — Sapa, Reuters and The Daily Telegraph, London THE ITV News channel in the UK has obtained the first verified, independent pictures from the scene of a chemical attack in eastern Damascus.
Women and children can be seen lying in the rubble, as can an apparent missile that caused the alleged attack on Wednesday that, according to the opposition, has killed more than 1 000 people.
A UN team is already in Syria, but it only has permission to visit specific locations.