Syria crosses the White House's 'Red Line'

'Pravda' speaks. I think we can expect a no-fly zone soon.

White House: Syria crosses 'red line' with use of chemical weapons on its people

Syria has crossed a 'red line' with its use of chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin gas, against rebels, the White House said Thursday.

CNN,

13 June, 2013

The acknowledgement is the first time President Barack Obama's administration has definitively said what it has long suspected -- that President Bashar al-Assad's forces have used chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war.

"The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete," Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, said in a statement released by the White House.

"While the lethality of these attacks make up only a small portion of the catastrophic loss of life in Syria, which now stands at more than 90,000 deaths, the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades," Rhodes added.

The administration also appeared to indicate that it was stepping up its support of the rebels, who have been calling for the United States and others provide arms need to battle al-Assad's forces.

"Put simply, the Assad regime should know that its actions have led us to increase the scope and scale of assistance that we provide to the opposition, including direct support to the (rebel Supreme Military Council). These efforts will increase going forward," Rhodes' statement said.

The administration also believes that al-Assad's government maintains control of the chemical weapons, and that there is "no reliable, corroborated reporting to indicate that the opposition in Syria has acquired or used chemical weapons."

Earlier this year, the United States said its intelligence analysts had concluded "with varying degrees of confidence" that chemical weapons had been used in the Syrian civil war. But Obama said then "intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient."

As early as last week, France's foreign minister said sarin gas had been used several times in the Syrian civil war, citing results from test samples in France's possession.

In early May, the head of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said that evidence points to the use of sarin by Syrian rebel forces. But the commission later issued a news release saying it "has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict."

In April, the head of the Israeli military's intelligence research said the Syrian government is using chemical weapons against rebel forces.

Syria crossed ‘red line’ using chemical weapons on rebels – White House

RT,

13 June, 2013

American officials say they have confirmed that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the insurgency seeking to remove it, asserting that the move crosses a "red line." The US is now on the record as considering military support.

An internal memorandum circulating within the Obama administration has assessed that chemical weapons, most likely the nerve gas sarin, were used multiple times in battle against the Syrian rebels.

The “intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year,” according to that memo, as cited by The New York Times.

White House officials speculated over evidence that nerve gas had been used as of April, but that evidence is now being called “definitive” – with Congressional sources describing the conclusion as crossing the “red line” for US military intervention or backing as previously defined by the president.

"The president has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition, that will involve providing direct support to the (Supreme Military Council), that includes military support," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

"This is going to be different in both scope and scale in terms of what we are providing to the SMC than what we have provided before," he adds.

According to officials who spoke with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the US military is currently considering a proposal for arming factions of the Syrian insurgency – as well as establishing a limited no-fly zone over the country to be enforced from nearby Jordanian territory.

That no-fly zone could stretch for up to 25 miles into Syrian territory, and would be set up in a bid to train and equip rebel forces and protect refugees, officials said.

A no-fly zone would not require the destruction of Syrian antiaircraft batteries, according to the accounts cited in American media. The White House could alternatively authorize the arming and training of the Syrian opposition in Jordan without a no-fly zone.

Congress was being notified of the conclusions over chemical weapons use in the country on Thursday in classified documents. Findings were corroborated by evidence sent to the US by France, which along with Britain claimed that Assad’s forces had used chemical weapons.

In a conference call to reporters on Thursday, the White House said that the intelligence community estimates that as many as 150 people, or about 0.16 per cent (0.0016) of the 93,000 reported deaths in the Syrian conflict, could have been a result of chemical weapons used by pro-Assad forces.

The White House said during the same call that the US “will make decisions on our own timeline" regarding the next steps on Syria. President Obama will consult with G8 partners, including Russia, about Syria next week.

Republican senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham called on the US to provide "lethal assistance, especially ammunition & heavy weapons" to Syria’s rebels on Thursday.

“The President must rally an international coalition to take military actions to degrade Assad’s ability to use airpower and ballistic missiles and to move and resupply his forces around the battlefield by air,” said a joint statement by the pair.

As a UN probe was underway into allegations of chemical weapons use in May, lead investigator Carla Del Ponte said the findings showed that rebels were behind at least one chemical weapons attack. "This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," Del Ponte told Swiss TV.