Syria has said the accusations that it has used chemical weapons were "lies and baseless" http://bit.ly/15oNkCa
6:45 PM - 30 Aug 13 · Details
A US intelligence report has said that 1,429 people were killed in a chemical weapons attack in Damascus, including at least 426 children.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US government knows the Syrian government has used chemical weapons multiple times this year.
He said Syrian regime elements were in the area before the 21 August attack and were told to wear protective masks.
Mr Kerry said the US also knows that a senior Syrian government official confirmed the use of chemical weapons.
According to the report, intercepted communications showed that another senior Syrian official was concerned that UN inspectors might obtain evidence of the chemical attack.
The report said a scenario in which Syrian opposition elements executed the attack was "highly unlikely".
Mr Kerry said the UN inspectors cannot tell the US anything it does not already know about the attack and the rockets came only from "government sites".
The Secretary of State, who called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a "thug and a murderer", said the US will act on its own timeline in relation to action against Syria.
However, he stated that anything the US does will not be open-ended and it will not assume responsibility for the civil war.
Mr Kerry said it was essential not to let Syria get away with the attack, partly as a sign to those who might consider using chemical weapons in the future.
He said the US was joined by allies including France, "our oldest ally," in its determination to act.
"It matters here if nothing is done," Mr Kerry said in a statement delivered at the State Department.
He said that if Mr Assad can gas thousands of his own people with impunity,"it would be an example to others", such as, he said, Iran, Hezbollah and North Korea.
"Will they remember that the Assad regime was stopped from those weapons' current or future use? Or will they remember that the world stood aside and created impunity?" Mr Kerry said.
