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Syria: Obama considering unilateral response
In Manila, U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday the Obama administration was consulting with allies to “further develop the facts” about the attack, and options for a response. Hagel said the administration also would continue to seek input from members of Congress on how the U.S. should respond to the deadly attack.
Hagel said Thursday’s consultation by high-level Obama administration officials with congressional leaders was “not to convince anyone of anything.” He said it was intended as an update and a chance to solicit lawmakers’ views on possible U.S. military or other action. “As we continue to consult with our allies, we’ll further develop the facts and intelligence on what happened,” he said.
A number of lawmakers raised questions in the briefing about how the administration would finance a military operation as the Pentagon grapples with automatic spending cuts and reduced budgets.
It remained to be seen whether any skeptics were swayed by the call, given the expectation that officials would hold back classified information to protect intelligence sources and methods.
“The main thing was that they have no doubt that Assad’s forces used chemical weapons,” Representative Eliot Engel, top Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee and a supporter of Obama’s course, said after the briefing. However, he said, the officials did not provide much new evidence of that.
In London, Prime Minister David Cameron argued a military strike would be legal on humanitarian grounds. But he faced deep pressure from lawmakers and had already promised not to undertake military action until a UN chemical weapons team on the ground in Syria released its findings about the August 21 attack.
The prime minister said in terse comments after the vote that while he believes in a “tough response” to the use of chemical weapons, he would respect the will of the House of Commons.
