Kerry accuses Syria of using chemical agents; US preparing to release evidence
Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday accused Syria of using chemical weapons against its people, and U.S. officials told NBC News that they would release intelligence evidence to prepare the public for a possible military response.
President Barack Obama hasn't made any decision on whether wage strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday. But other U.S. officials told NBC News that the administration could begin laying the groundwork by disclosing the evidence as early as Tuesday.
The officials said an attack isn't imminent, because it will take time to make all the information public, and preparations must be coordinated with allies including Britain, France and Turkey. The U.S. is also unlikely to attack while a U.N. weapons team remains in Syria ? and it isn't scheduled to leave until Sunday.
The officials reiterated that any military action would be limited and not targeted at Assad because its goal would be to respond to the use of chemical weapons. Targets would be command and control bunkers, airfields and artillery.
Kerry used unusually forceful language in a brief statement to reporters Monday, saying images that have emerged from Syria in the past week ? of entire families' being killed without shedding a drop of blood, of bodies' contorting in spasms ? "shock the conscience of the world."
He said the evidence was "undeniable" that the Syrian regime had used chemical agents. And he said Obama feels there must be accountability for those who use "the world's most heinous weapons."
Kerry spoke hours after the U.N. team trying to look into claims of a poison gas attack in a Syrian suburb was turned back by sniper fire. At the podium in Washington, Kerry spoke in pained personal terms, as a father, of watching and rewatching video of the aftermath of chemical attacks.
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President Barack Obama hasn't made any decision on whether wage strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday. But other U.S. officials told NBC News that the administration could begin laying the groundwork by disclosing the evidence as early as Tuesday.
The officials said an attack isn't imminent, because it will take time to make all the information public, and preparations must be coordinated with allies including Britain, France and Turkey. The U.S. is also unlikely to attack while a U.N. weapons team remains in Syria ? and it isn't scheduled to leave until Sunday.
The officials reiterated that any military action would be limited and not targeted at Assad because its goal would be to respond to the use of chemical weapons. Targets would be command and control bunkers, airfields and artillery.
Kerry used unusually forceful language in a brief statement to reporters Monday, saying images that have emerged from Syria in the past week ? of entire families' being killed without shedding a drop of blood, of bodies' contorting in spasms ? "shock the conscience of the world."
He said the evidence was "undeniable" that the Syrian regime had used chemical agents. And he said Obama feels there must be accountability for those who use "the world's most heinous weapons."
Kerry spoke hours after the U.N. team trying to look into claims of a poison gas attack in a Syrian suburb was turned back by sniper fire. At the podium in Washington, Kerry spoke in pained personal terms, as a father, of watching and rewatching video of the aftermath of chemical attacks.
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they are going to attack
they are backed by russia which means china and north korea 
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