The Sydney Morning Herald
August 28, 2013 - 6:19AM
US to respond to Syrian chemical attack US President Barack Obama weighs his options, including a military response, after a chemical weapons attack in Syria.
Cairo: The US military is ready to strike Syria, the top defence official says as the momentum grows in France and Britain for punitive action and the Syrian opposition says it had been informed of an imminent military attack.
"We are prepared. We are ready to go" if given such an order from President Barack Obama, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told the BBC on Tuesday.
The US will release intelligence on the alleged chemical weapons attack later this week.
"We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil ... whatever option the president wishes to take," he said.
US defence secretary Chuck Hagel told the media "We are prepared. We are ready to go" if the order comes from President Barack Obama. Photo: AP
The US and its allies blame Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for chemical weapons attacks on Wednesday in Eastern Ghouta and Maadamiyet al-Sham, outside Damascus, which the opposition claimed killed at least 1300 people.
Advertisement Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem warned his country would defend itself in a way that would "surprise" its enemies.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has made a flurry of calls to allies over the last five days, including the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Canada, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Mr Kerry has also been in contact with senior NATO, EU and Arab League officials, and he has spoken to his counterparts in Syria and Russia.
A senior State Department official said the talks were part of "ongoing consultations about the appropriate response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria".
US officials on Tuesday said the country will release intelligence on the alleged chemical weapons attack later this week. "I think you can expect it this week,"
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a daily briefing, amid widespread expectations that the US would launch a military response to the alleged use of chemical agents.
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Tuesday his government was considering a "serious response" to the use of chemical weapons in Syria but did not seek to topple Dr Assad.
"What we're considering is a serious response... What we're not considering is regime change, trying to topple the Assad regime," Mr Clegg said, after it was announced parliament is to be recalled from recess for a debate on possible action.
France was "ready to punish" those who take the "vile decision to gas innocent people," President Francois Hollande said as he prepared to meet with his defence cabinet on Wednesday.
"This civil war today threatens world peace," he said.
"Everything leads us to believe that it is the regime that committed this abject act," Mr Hollande said.
Syria's opposition expects a military intervention against Dr Assad's forces soon.
"We have been informed of a strike by the world powers to punish the Syrian regime, but we do not have the details," said Monzer Makhous, the main opposition coalition's envoy in Paris.
"This is being left for the world powers to decide."
He added: "We will support any move to punish such a regime, which has been killing its own people to remain in power at any expense."
France said it will increase its military support to the anti-Assad insurgents within the limits of its commitments to Europe.
While US broadcaster NBC reported that Washington DC could launch a rocket offensive against Syria as early as Thursday, a 20-member team of UN chemical weapons inspectors is currently in Damascus.
The work of the team - which was targeted by snipers on Monday while en route to Maadamiyet al-Sham, south-west of the capital - was postponed on Tuesday for 24 hours because of safety concerns.
Mr Hollande said France had a "responsibility" to "seek the most appropriate response to the Syrian regime's abuses once the bulk of the United Nation investigators mission is completed".
But it appeared the US and its allies were not waiting for the UN experts' findings to lay the groundwork for military action in Syria.
NBC cited unnamed high-ranking government officials who said the offensive would last more than three days and be limited to a specific target area.
A strike would be intended as a warning to Dr Assad rather than an attempt to decimate the regime's military capacity, it reported.
Mr Muallem, the Syrian minister, promised a defence: "Either we surrender or defend ourselves with the available means - I say this is the better option."
"We have weapons of self-defence, and we will surprise the others with them," he said.
While the Arab League did not discuss military action, it blamed the Syrian government for last week's apparent chemical attacks and called on the UN Security Council to act.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would respond with "strength" should the Syrian regime retaliate against Israel in the event of a US-led missile strike.
The Greek Foreign Ministry refused to comment on a newspaper report saying the US has requested the use of its bases in the southern Peloponnese.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Berlin would support UN-led action in Syria.
But unanimous approval for such a move from the veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council is unlikely because of opposition from Syrian allies Russia and China, who have repeatedly voted down resolutions condemning Dr Assad.
Iran's Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan warned that any attack on Syria would threaten the stability and security of the region.
DPA/AFP
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-forces-ready-to-go-for-syria-action-us-defence-chief-chuck-hagel-20130828-2soxz.html#ixzz2dCqV04ed
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