This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/us-said-to-weigh-military-responses-to-syrian-chemical-attack.html
The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| U.S. to Weigh Military Responses to Syrian Chemical Attack | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| WASHINGTON — Senior Defense Department officials are developing options for a military strike in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians on Tuesday, officials said on Thursday. | WASHINGTON — Senior Defense Department officials are developing options for a military strike in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians on Tuesday, officials said on Thursday. |
| At the same time, the nation’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, said the devastating chemical weapons attack in Syria made it clear that there was “no role” for President Bashar al-Assad to continue governing his country, and he promised a “serious response” from the United States. | At the same time, the nation’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, said the devastating chemical weapons attack in Syria made it clear that there was “no role” for President Bashar al-Assad to continue governing his country, and he promised a “serious response” from the United States. |
| The top-level consultations about military options involve Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as military officers at the United States Central Command. | The top-level consultations about military options involve Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as military officers at the United States Central Command. |
| Officials said that developing military options for a president — a core responsibility of the Pentagon even in peacetime — did not mean that a decision to escalate American military involvement in Syria had been made. | |
| Nonetheless, foreign policy analysts said President Trump could risk looking weak and indecisive if he does not act after saying on Wednesday that Syria had “crossed a lot of lines for me” with the chemical attack on civilians this week. | |
| American intelligence has established with high confidence that a Syrian government aircraft carried out the attack, a senior American official said. The poison used in the deadly chemical bomb attack in a rebel-held part of northern Syria was the banned nerve agent sarin, the Turkish Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. | |
| The statement from Turkey, where many of the stricken Syrians were taken after the assault on Tuesday, was the most specific about the cause to date. “According to the results of preliminary tests,” the statement said, “patients were exposed to chemical material (Sarin).” | |
| The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified intelligence and planning. Mr. Mattis is traveling to Florida, where he is expected to discuss the crisis in Syria with Mr. Trump. | |
| Defense Department officials said the military options that Mr. Mattis is taking to Mr. Trump include a range of choices for escalation. At one end would be cruise missile strikes launched from American warships to destroy Syrian radar facilities; at the other would be actions that fall just short of an outright declaration of war, with days of airstrikes to take out the Assad government’s integrated air defense systems. | |
| Mr. Tillerson, who was also in Florida, to greet President Xi Jinping of China before a summit meeting with Mr. Trump, said there was “no doubt in our minds” that Mr. Assad’s government was responsible for the chemical attacks that killed scores, including children. | |
| In light of those attacks, he said, “it would seem there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.” | In light of those attacks, he said, “it would seem there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.” |
| Mr. Tillerson said Mr. Assad’s departure would have to come about through a “political process,” but he left open the possibility of a military strike by the United States as a response to the use of chemical weapons by the Assad government. | Mr. Tillerson said Mr. Assad’s departure would have to come about through a “political process,” but he left open the possibility of a military strike by the United States as a response to the use of chemical weapons by the Assad government. |
| “We are considering an appropriate response for this chemical weapons attack,” Mr. Tillerson told reporters. “A serious matter requires a serious response.” | “We are considering an appropriate response for this chemical weapons attack,” Mr. Tillerson told reporters. “A serious matter requires a serious response.” |
| Mr. Tillerson declined to elaborate on what form such a response might take. Earlier, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, was also cagey about what Mr. Trump was considering in the aftermath of the heartbreaking images from the site of the chemical attacks. | Mr. Tillerson declined to elaborate on what form such a response might take. Earlier, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, was also cagey about what Mr. Trump was considering in the aftermath of the heartbreaking images from the site of the chemical attacks. |
| “He is not one to telegraph those issues or options until he is ready to make them,” Mr. Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One as the president traveled for the summit meeting with Mr. Xi. | “He is not one to telegraph those issues or options until he is ready to make them,” Mr. Spicer told reporters aboard Air Force One as the president traveled for the summit meeting with Mr. Xi. |
| Mr. Spicer raised the possibility that Mr. Trump might embrace a greater role in protecting Syrians against attacks like the one this week. He said the president’s No. 1 priority remains protecting Americans, but he added, “That doesn’t mean we can’t support efforts like safe zones throughout Syria.” | Mr. Spicer raised the possibility that Mr. Trump might embrace a greater role in protecting Syrians against attacks like the one this week. He said the president’s No. 1 priority remains protecting Americans, but he added, “That doesn’t mean we can’t support efforts like safe zones throughout Syria.” |
| Asked whether Mr. Assad should step down, Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that “what happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he’s there, and I guess he’s running things, so I guess something should happen.” | Asked whether Mr. Assad should step down, Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that “what happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he’s there, and I guess he’s running things, so I guess something should happen.” |
| Mr. Trump called the chemical weapons attacks “truly one of the egregious crimes,” but he also declined to say what specific steps he might take to respond. | Mr. Trump called the chemical weapons attacks “truly one of the egregious crimes,” but he also declined to say what specific steps he might take to respond. |
| “I don’t want to say what I’m going to be doing with respect to Syria,” he said. | “I don’t want to say what I’m going to be doing with respect to Syria,” he said. |
| The possibility of military strikes by the United States in Syria is complicated by the presence of Russian forces in the country. After blaming Mr. Assad and the Syrian government for the chemical attack, Mr. Tillerson warned Russia about its support for Syria. “It is very important that the Russian government consider carefully their continued support for the Assad regime,” he said. | The possibility of military strikes by the United States in Syria is complicated by the presence of Russian forces in the country. After blaming Mr. Assad and the Syrian government for the chemical attack, Mr. Tillerson warned Russia about its support for Syria. “It is very important that the Russian government consider carefully their continued support for the Assad regime,” he said. |
| The Obama administration prepared plans to strike Syrian targets with sea-launched cruise missiles after an August 2013 Syrian chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 civilians, including hundreds of children. | The Obama administration prepared plans to strike Syrian targets with sea-launched cruise missiles after an August 2013 Syrian chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 civilians, including hundreds of children. |
| Those plans were shelved when Mr. Obama decided instead to negotiate an agreement with the Russians to eliminate Syria’s declared chemical weapons arsenal and the equipment to make poison gas. | Those plans were shelved when Mr. Obama decided instead to negotiate an agreement with the Russians to eliminate Syria’s declared chemical weapons arsenal and the equipment to make poison gas. |
| The Turkish statement said the sarin conclusion had been based on autopsies on three victims performed at Turkey’s Adana Forensic Medicine Institution with the participation of representatives from the World Health Organization and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a group based in The Hague that monitors compliance with the global treaty that bans such munitions. | |
| Mr. Assad’s government signed that treaty less than four years ago and agreed to give up its chemical arsenal after the August 2013 chemical weapons attack, which left hundreds dead near Damascus. | |
| The Turkish statement did not elaborate on how the sarin had been identified in the assault on Tuesday, but it said some of the telling symptoms seen in the victims included “lung edema, increase in lung weight and bleeding in lungs.” |