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US: Assad used chemical weapons on Syria rebels
The United States has conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons against opposition forces seeking to overthrow the government, crossing what President Barack Obama has called a "red line" that would trigger greater American involvement in the crisis, the White House said
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he United States has conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons against opposition forces seeking to overthrow the government, crossing what President Barack Obama has called a "red line" that would trigger greater American involvement in the crisis, the White House said.
In response, two U.S. officials said Obama planned to send weapons and ammunition to bolster the rebel forces, though details were unclear. Sen. John McCain, who has been one of the strongest proponents of U.S. intervention in Syria's two-year civil war, said he also had been told of Obama's decision to arm the rebels.
Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, said Thursday that the president had decided to provide direct "military support' to the opposition but was unable to publicly discuss the type of aid.
"This is going to be different in both scope and scale in terms of what we are providing," said Rhodes, adding that the additional aid would be aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the Syria opposition. The U.S. has so far provided the Syrian rebel army with rations and medical supplies.
The announcement followed a series of urgent meetings at the White House this week that revealed deep divisions within the administration over U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war. The proponents of more aggressive action ' including Secretary of State John Kerry ' appeared to have won out over those wary of sending weapons and ammunition into a war zone where Hezbollah and Iranian fighters are backing Assad's armed forces and al-Qaida-linked extremists back the rebellion.
Obama still opposes putting American troops on the ground in Syria, and the U.S. has made no decision on operating a no-fly zone over Syria, Rhodes said.
U.S. officials said the administration could provide the rebels with a range of weapons including small arms, ammunition, assault rifles and a variety of anti-tank weaponry such as shoulder-fired remote-propelled grenades and other missiles. However, a final decision on the inventory has not been made, the officials said.
Most of those would be weapons the opposition forces could easily use and not require much additional training to operate. Obama's opposition to deploying American troops to Syria makes it difficult to provide much large-scale training.
All of the officials insisted on anonymity in order to discuss internal administration discussions.
Word of the increase in assistance followed new U.S. intelligence assessments showing that Assad has used chemical weapons, including sarin, on a small scale multiple times in the last year.
U.S. intelligence estimates 100 to 150 people have been killed in those attacks, the White House said, constituting a small percentage of the 93,000 people killed in Syria over the last two years.
The White House said it believes Assad's regime still maintains control of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles and does not see any evidence that rebel forces have launched attacks using the deadly agents.
