American's red line has been crossed.
These images from a hospital in Aleppo claimed to show the aftermath of government chemical weapon attack.US intelligence now confirms the chemical attacks have taken place.
In a statement, the White House said The Al-Assad regime has used chemical weapons including the nerve agent sarin on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year. Intelligence estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detective chemical weapon attacks in Syria to date.
They said their independent verification of this would be a game changer; the new rules have yet to be written. The US only said it would offer military support.
Republican Senator John McCain is clear on what form that should take.
“A lot at stake here, I hope to president will go to a No-fly zone and give these people weapons with which they defend themselves as Russian arms and Iranian arms pour into the country on the side of Bashar Al-Assad. My friends, it's not a fair fight.“
The White House is yet to be explicit on what they will do, but so far, no attempt has been made to shy away from what the president Obama had to say on this issue last year.
“We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of wrong people. We have been very clear to the Al-Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”
As the violence in Syria rages on, the US says it will make decision on its own timetable and look into national options in the upcoming G8 summit. The UN says its latest figure of 93,000 deaths in Syria is probably conservative. America faces a tough balancing act. The calls for action allowed it to the level.
Amanda Walker, Sky News, Washington
