Obama, speaking in a joint press conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, said that he cannot “organize international coalitions around perceived”:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I would note, not to answer the question that you lobbed over to President Park, that you suggested even in your question a perceived crossing of a red line. The operative word there, I guess, Steven, is “perceived.” And what I’ve said is that we have evidence that there has been the use of chemical weapons inside of Syria, but I don’t make decisions based on perceived, and I can’t organize international coalitions around perceived. We’ve tried that in the past, by the way, and it didn’t work out well. So we want to make sure that, you know, we have the best an access possible. We want to make sure that we are acting deliberately. But I would just point out that — point out that there have been self-instances during the course of my presidency where I said I was going to do something, and it ended up getting done. And there were times when there were folks on the sidelines wondering why hasn’t it happened yet and what’s going on and why didn’t it go on tomorrow. But in the end whether it’s Bin Laden or Gaddafi, if we say we’re taking a position, I would think at this point the international community has a pretty good sense that we typically follow through on our commitments.

Administration officials announced two weeks ago that U.S. intelligence officials believe the Assad regime used the chemical agent sarin against Syrians.

Since that disclosure, a number of prominent lawmakers including Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) have said the intelligence crosses the administration’s red line.

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) reports that Israeli fighter jets slipped into Damascus over the weekend and bombed a chemical weapons depot outside the city.

Neither Damascus nor Jerusalem have yet confirmed the attack, according to UPI.

According to The Jewish Press (JP) “many” reports came in over the weekend confirming the mission. Sources told the JP Israeli jets arrived over Damascus early Saturday morning and circled Assad’s presidential compound before moving on to target the weapons site.

The Israeli jets reportedly received fire but returned to base unscathed.

TAMRON HALL: Senator John McCain says, quote, I think it is pretty clear, obvious that a red line has been crossed. What is your response to his remark?

ROBERT MENENDEZ: Well, if we nailed down what we believe, that Assad did in fact have a limited use of chemical weapons against his own people, yes. [...]

]]> http://freebeacon.com/menendez-if-intel-correct-i-agree-with-mccain-on-assad-crossing-red-line/feed/ 0 http://freebeacon.com/u-s-believes-assad-regime-used-chemical-weapons/ http://freebeacon.com/u-s-believes-assad-regime-used-chemical-weapons/#comments Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:07:17 +0000 Washington Free Beacon Staff http://freebeacon.com/?p=96271 The United States now believes the Assad regime has used small amounts of chemical weapons in Syria, administration officials said Thursday.

The White House confirmed that U.S. intelligence agencies “assess with varying degrees of confidence” the use of chemical weapons, in a letter to Sens. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.).

“Our intelligence community does assess with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specially the chemical agent sarin,” the letter reads. “This assessment is based on physiological samples. Our standard of evidence must buildon these intelligence assessments as we seek to establish credible and corroborated facts. For example, the chain of custody is not clear, so we cannot confim how the exposure occurred and under what conditions.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday that administration believes the Assad regime, rather than opposition fighters, is responsible for the weapons.

“I have been in contact with senior officials in Washington today and most recently the last couple of hours on this issue,” Hagel told reporters in Abu Dhabi. ”We cannot confirm the origin of these weapons, but we do believe that any use of chemical weapons in Syria would very likely have originated with the Assad regime.”

Blood samples from multiple people have tested positive for sarin, a nerve agent, officials told Danger Room Thursday.

President Barack Obama has repeatedly isolated the use of chemical weapons as an action that would cross a “red line” required for U.S. military action.

The White House said Thursday “intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient” in the Congressional letter for administration “decision-making.”

“Only credible and corroborated facts that provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our decision-making,” the White House director of legislative affairs, Miguel Rodriguez, writes in the letter.

Hagel told reporters the United States will move to “fully investigate” the assessments through allies and the United Nations.

“The president has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons or the transfer of such weapons to terrorist groups would be unacceptable,” Hagel said. ”The United States has an obligation to fully investigate – including with all key partners and allies, and through the United Nations – evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria.”

More than 70,000 people have died in the Syrian civil war, which began more than two years ago.

Update (2:14 p.m.): A senior White House said Thursday it is not yet clear whether the administration’s red line has been crossed during a conference call with reporters, Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin reports:

A senior White House official said on the conference call that the intelligence community’s assessment was not enough to determine that President Obama’s red line regarding U.S. intervention in Syria has been crossed.

“We are continuing to do further work to establish a strong, firm, evidentiary basis to determine whether or not the red line has been crossed,” the official said. “If we make a determination that the red line has been crossed… what we will be doing is consulting with friends and allies as to the next steps forward.” [...]

“It is crucial, given our own history with intelligence assessments, including intelligence assessments on weapons of mass destruction… that we are able to present evidence that is airtight,” the official said. “It is absolutely the case that the president’s red line is the use of chemical weapons or the transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups. Our standard of evidence has to build on these intelligence assessments. We want to continue to investigate.”

The white House official also declined to say what options might be on the table.

Intelligence agencies from Israel, Britain, and France have corroborated the United States’ assessment that chemical weapons have been used, Sen. McCain said.

However, Sen. McCain also expressed his concern that the Obama Administration may try to use certain technicalities and “caveats” concerning how the chemical weapons have been used as an “excuse” not to intervene:

JENNA LEE: Senator McCain, I just read a small portion of the letter about the caveats. You know, a varying degree of confidence. But there’s specifics about the chemical agent serin. Then the caveat the intelligence assessment alone is not sufficient. So what are we to make of this headline? Has a red line been crossed or not?

JOHN MCCAIN: Well, in my view, it was crossed. Not only have our intelligence people concluded that, but as importantly the Israeli, the British and the French have as well. And obviously, we know that Bashar al-Assad will do whatever is necessary in order to stay in power; massacres of his own people, all of the actions that he’s taken that are so horrific. So I worry that the president and the administration will use these caveats as an excuse not to act right away or act at all, because the president clearly stated that it was a red line and that it couldn’t be crossed without the United States taking vigorous action. That action should be a safe zone for the Syrian opposition to operate in Syria, weapons to the right people in Syria and neutralizing the air capability of Bashar al-Assad.

A senior Israeli intelligence official, Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, told a security conference Tuesday that “in our assessment, the (Syrian) regime has used, and is using, chemical weapons.”

Israel has warned it will take action if it discovers Syria has transferred chemical weapons to “hostile forces,” an apparent reference to Hezbollah or jihadi militias battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but it has never issued warnings regarding the regime’s use of such weapons against the rebels.

However, the United States has issued such warnings: President Barack Obama cautioned the Assad regime in a speech last month, “We will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people. … The world is watching, and we will hold you accountable.”

Gen. Brun, who heads the research department of Military Intelligence, said the Syrian army had used lethal chemicals, probably based on Sarin nerve gas, against rebels “on a number of occasions”. Photographs, he said, had shown victims foaming from the mouth and with decreased pupil size, signs of a chemical attack.

Brun said the absence of international condemnation “could signal that such use is legitimate.” His remarks are the first time an Israeli official has given backing to charges of chemical warfare emanating from Syria.

Hagel said two days ago that U.S. intelligence agencies are still assessing whether chemical weapons were used in Syria. “The Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons would be a game changer,” he said. There was no immediate American reaction to Brun’s statement.

The aim of Hagel’s visit was to coordinate the positions of Jerusalem and Washington, particularly on Iran, and to assure Israel of America’s support by an infusion of weaponry.

This includes tankers for midair refueling, which would help sustain an attack on Iran by the Israeli air force, as well as the V-22 Osprey, an aircraft capable of vertical lift-off like a helicopter and the high-speed flight of a conventional aircraft. The Osprey could be useful for rescuing downed pilots in Iran or for inserting special forces behind Hezbollah lines if war breaks out with Lebanon.

Israeli commentators see Washington’s gift as coming with strings attached.

“The military and diplomatic aid from the United States, which is slated to grow, will also require Jerusalem to coordinate fully with Washington in the most sensitive matter, the handling of the Iranian nuclear threat,” wrote Ha’artez’s military correspondent Amos Harel. “[This] will limit Israel’s ability to act independently on this issue despite the lip service paid by Hagel and U.S. President Barack Obama a month before him to Israel’s right to act independently to protect itself.”

JESSICA YELLIN: Have you seen any evidence of proof that there has been chemical weapons used in Syria?

TZIPI LIVNI: It is clear for us here in Israel that it is being used and the problem is that while it’s being used, we have Syria, we have Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the situation is that–the appearance is that it’s not going to be only in Syria, Hezbollah can reach all these chemical weapons and use it against Israel in the future.

President Barack Obama said the administration is still investigating reports that chemical weapons were used in Syria at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday.

“I have made clear that the use of chemical weapons is a game-changer,” Obama reiterated during the press conference, also saying he was “deeply skeptical” of claims that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian opposition.

White House press secretary Jay Carney would not deny definitively that chemical weapons were used in the city of Homs, despite claims made in a recent classified State Department cable that such weapons had been used.

Carney referred to the information in the cable as “anecdotal” and said that the State Department could not independently corroborate the information in the cable, which originated from a third-party source on the ground in Syria.

“The State Department addressed this issue yesterday. One of our diplomatic posts received anecdotal information from a third party regarding an alleged incident in Syria in December,” Carney said during the White House press briefing.

“This information was relayed to the State Department in Washington. We looked into these allegations at the time we received the information and found no credible evidence to corroborate or confirm that chemical weapons were used,” Carney said.

Foreign Policy magazine broke the news of the cable earlier this week and provided additional evidence that chemical weapons were likely used:

Activist and doctors on the ground in Homs have been circulating evidence of the Dec. 23 incident over the past three weeks in an attempt to convince the international community of its veracity. An Arabic-language report circulated by the rebels’ Homs medical committee detailed the symptoms of several of the victims who were brought to a makeshift field hospital inside the city and claims that the victims suffered severe effects of inhaling poisonous gas.

Activists have also been circulating videos of the victims on YouTube and Facebook. In one of the videos, victims can be seen struggling for breath and choking on their own vomit. (More videos, which are graphic, can be found here, here, here, here, here and here.)

Carney went on to say in Thursday’s briefing that the U.S. is “closely” monitoring the situation.

“We continue to closely monitor Syria’s proliferation-sensitive materials and facilities and have been consistent and clear about our red lines regarding chemical weapons in Syria,” Carney said. “As the president said, if the Assad regime makes the tragic mistake of using chemical weapons or fails to meet its obligation to secure them, they will be held accountable.”

President Barack Obama has dubbed the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a “red line” that would force the U.S. to take action.

However, the White House’s continued refusal to acknowledge that reported use of chemical weapons could be an indication that those red lines are flexible.

It is difficult to verify the use of chemical weapons, particularly in Syria where the situation is consistently in flux.

While Carney maintained that the Foreign Policy report provided no “credible” evidence of a chemical weapons attack, he declined to elaborate on how the State Department made this determination.

U.S. intelligence agencies recently reported on several chemical arms sites in Syria that were revealed in five YouTube videos uploaded to the Internet in July, according to officials familiar with the recordings.

The posting of the videos coincided with the defection in July of Maj. Gen. Adnan Sillu, head of Syria’s chemical arms forces, who told Britain’s Times of London newspaper that Assad will use the arms to stay in power and that his regime has discussed handing over some of the weapons to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

The five rebel videos use Google Earth maps software to show chemical arms storage and production plants—some hidden in underground bunkers—and Scud missiles armed with chemical warheads, according to U.S. officials who have analyzed the videos.

They are likely to be used by U.S. or Israeli military planners in any future attacks designed to eliminate Syria’s chemical arms stockpiles.

Israel’s military said in June that it would be forced to act against Syria to prevent advanced rockets and chemical arms from falling into the hands of terrorists like Hezbollah.

The 10-minute-long videos were judged to be accurate by U.S. officials in describing suspected hidden Syrian chemical facilities.

One video reveals a major chemical weapons facility in the downtown area of the Syrian capital of Damascus located a short distance by underground tunnel from al-Mazzeh military airfield in southwestern Damascus.

The tunnel can accommodate tractor trailer-sized trucks and exits several buildings on the base. An Arabic-speaking narrator on the video shows the path of the tunnel leading to an underground storage area north and east of the airfield.

The narrator said the roof of the bunker includes 45 feet of reinforced concrete designed to withstand a strike from U.S. Tomahawk missiles. The facility is said to contain a variety of chemical weapons, from hand grenades filled with the blistering agent mustard to chemical weapons rockets of differing sizes.

The video shows an aircraft runway near the facility, which is called Zone 86, and housing used by senior Syrian military officers and members of the paramilitary Shabiha.

The video also states that a building near Saraya traffic circle is a residence for foreign technicians from Iran and North Korea.

The Sanid News Network, a pro-rebel news outlet, posted the videos online.

A second video reveals what is believed to be the largest storage facility for Syria’s biological and chemical weapons, located in a residential area north of Damascus between Al-Tal and Aysh Wurur.

Roads are identified in the video that lead to tunnels built into mountains that stretch 1,500 feet inside the mountain and are hardened against attack.

The narrator of this video, identified as Abu Saqr, stated that he has been inside one of the tunnels that had separate storage rooms sealed with heavy metal doors.

Among the chemical agents stored in the bunker are mustard agent and cyanide and nerve agents Sarin, Tabun, and the ultra-lethal VX nerve agent.

The reported biological weapons at the facility include weaponized “bacteria and viruses” that can be transmitted to populations through food, water, and soil.

The video narrator also asserted that Iran is storing enriched uranium in the underground facility.

A third video around eight minutes long purports to show a Syrian chemical weapons factory located near al-Dumayr.

The factory is located east of al-Dumayr on the north side of a highway underneath an earthen berm 30 to 45 feet high. Roads are shown exiting the berms, and camouflaged tanks are nearby.

The plant has a high wall around its perimeter and, according to the video narrator, is operated by Iranians and North Koreans.

An underground storage facility is located nearby the plant.

Another of the rebel videos includes images of Syrian short-range Scud missiles at a base southwest of al-Qutayfah that the narrator asserts are armed with chemical weapons warheads. The missiles are shown loaded on trailers with a nearby underground storage facility for the chemical arms.

The last video uses Google Earth to identify what it claims to be an underground chemical weapons factory near the military airbase at al-Nasiriyah. It was described as an underground chemical weapons production facility and research center.

The Syrian defector, Maj. Gen. Sillu, stated in the interview published Sept. 19 that he took part in leadership discussions about using chemical weapons against civilians.

“We were in a serious discussion about the use of chemical weapons, including how we would use them and in what areas,” Sillu said. “We discussed this as a last resort—such as if the regime lost control of an important area such as Aleppo.”

Sillu said the meeting held at a Syrian chemical arms center five miles south of Damascus prompted him to defect because he opposed the use of the deadly arms against the population.

Sillu, now residing in Turkey, also said the Syrian regime considered handing over chemical weapons to Hezbollah.

“They wanted to place warheads with the chemical weapons on missiles—to transfer them this way to Hezbollah. It was for use against Israel, of course,” he said.

The Damascus government in the past had opposed supplying chemical arms to Hezbollah over concerns about the fallout from arming the terrorist group, he said.

“Now, if they have nothing to lose why not share these weapons? If a war starts between Hezbollah and Israel it will be only good for Syria,” Sillu said.

Sillu said members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps took part in meetings on chemical weapons.

“They were always coming to visit and to advise. They were always sending us scientists and bringing our scientists to them,” he said. “They were also involved on the political side of how to use the chemical weapons.”

The CIA in the past has said that reports of Syrian development of chemical and biological arms were exaggerated.

In 2003 the agency blocked congressional testimony by then-Undersecretary of State John Bolton that was to express new concerns about Syrian chemical and biological weapons.

Since that time, the Syrian program has continued to grow.

Israel also attacked a nuclear plant in Syria at al-Kibar that was being built with North Korean assistance.