The White House and its allies are reportedly weighing military options to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons, after U.S. intelligence reports show the Syrian regime may be readying those weapons and may be desperate enough to use them, U.S. officials have said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday echoed U.S. warnings that Syria must not be allowed to use chemical weapons, and that such stockpiles must be stopped before they reach terrorist organizations.
"Israel is following closely - along with the international community - the accumulation of chemical weapons in Syria," Netanyahu said. "We are at one with the United States: [President Bashar] Assad's regime must not be allowed to use these weapons, and chemical weapons must not reach terror elements."
The White House and its allies are weighing military options to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons, after U.S. intelligence reports show the Syrian regime may be readying those weapons and may be desperate enough to use them, U.S. officials said Monday.
U.S. President Barack Obama, in a speech at the National Defense University on Monday, pointedly warned Syrian President Bashar Assad not to use the weapons.
"Today I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching," Obama said. "The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Prague for meetings with Czech officials, said she wouldn't outline any specifics: "But suffice it to say, we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur," Clinton said.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Assad on Tuesday that any use of chemical weapons in his fight against encroaching rebel forces would be met with an immediate international response.
NNATO gave the go-ahead onTuesday to stationing Patriot surface-to-air missiles in Turkey to protect the country from any spillover of the civil war in neighboring Syria. The move was intended to beef up Turkey's air defenses and calm Turkey's fears that it could come under missile attack, possibly with chemical weapons, from Syrian forces, diplomats said.
International concern over Syria's intentions has been heightened by reports that its chemical weapons have been moved and could be prepared for use, particularly against rebels forces.
"The possible use of chemical weapons would be completely unacceptable for the whole international community and if anybody resorts to these terrible weapons would expect an immediate reaction from the international community," Rasmussen told reporters at the start of a meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Brussels.
The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said it would never use the weapons against Syrians.
Western military experts say Syria has four suspected chemical weapons sites, and it can develop and produce chemical weapons agents including mustard gas and sarin, and possibly also VX nerve agent. The CIA has estimated that Syria possesses several hundred liters of chemical weapons and produces hundreds of tons of agents annually.
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