'US ready to act militarily if Assad uses WMDs'
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND REUTERS
05/12/2012

'Times of London' quotes sources as saying US, allies on standby for armed intervention in Syria if chemical weapons employed.



A US-led coalition is prepared to take military action in Syria within days in the event that Syrian President Bashar Assad resort to the use of chemical weapons in his fight against opposition forces in his country, The Times of London reported on Tuesday, citing a US official.

“It won’t require major movement to make action happen. The muscle is already there to be flexed,” a US official said. “It’s premature to say what could happen if a decision is made to intervene. That hasn’t taken shape, we’ve not reached that kind of decision. There are a lot of options, but it [military action] could be launched rapidly, within days,” the Times quoted the official as saying.

The Times quoted sources as saying the US intervention would involve Britain and other allies.

Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday addressed raised concerns that Assad could be preparing to use chemical weapons, stating that Israel was monitoring the situation closely.

Israel has said on several occasions in the past that it would take military action if necessary to prevent Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons from falling into the hands of Hezbollah or other terror groups.



After US President Barack Obama and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Assad against using chemical weapons on Monday and Tuesday respectively, Netanyahu said Tuesday, "We are monitoring closely, along with the international community, the events in Syria with regard to the chemical weapons stockpiles."

Netanyahu said that he "heard the important statement made by President Obama on this matter and I agree, these weapons cannot be used or transferred to terrorist organizations. "

The head of NATO, asked about possible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government, said on Tuesday that any such act would provoke an immediate international response.

"The possible use of chemical weapons would be completely unacceptable for the whole international community," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters.

"If anybody resorts to these terrible weapons, then I would expect an immediate reaction from the international community," he said.

Rasmussen's statement followed a similar warning by Obama to Assad on Monday not to use chemical weapons against Syrian opposition forces, saying there would be consequences if he were to do so.

"I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching," Obama said in a speech to a gathering of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons proliferation experts.

"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," Obama said.

He did not say how the United States might respond, but White House spokesman Jay Carney said earlier that "contingency planning" was under way when asked whether the use of military force was an option.

It was unclear what has motivated US officials to think that Syria might be on the verge of using chemical weapons.

An American official said the United States is concerned that Syria may be preparing to combine the chemicals needed to make sarin gas.

As Assad's government has shown signs of increasing strain in response to recent advances made by the rebels, Carney said the United States has grown concerned that the Syrian president might be considering the use of chemical weapons.

This would, Carney said, "cross a red line for the United States."

The Atlantic reported Monday that Israel asked Jordan on a number of occasions for "permission" to bomb Syrian chemical weapons sites, citing intelligence sources in both countries.

According to the report, Jordan turned down requests a number of times in the past two months, saying "the time was not right." Jordan is reportedly wary of allowing Israel to bomb the sites in Syria, fearing a military response on Jordanian territory. "A number of sites are not far from the border," the report quoted a foreign source as saying.



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I doubt Assad is that stupid, that would be the guaranteed end of his regime, no world government (other then Iran and North Korea whos governments get off on that type of thing) would support him after that and he knows it.

I don't believe the propaganda and I don't believe that Assad is the evil bad guy they claim he is. I think its all a bunch of lies.

Israel lives in fear and uses that excuse of their fear (plus uses propaganda) to justify their aggressive military action against anyone they choose.

I'm so sick of their fear and their aggression and their so-called preemptive strikes and military actions against everyone.

Does the word paranoid ring a bell?

Israel is paranoid. They believe everyone is out to get them.

But everyone is not, just the enemies they created themselves who find it hard to like or trust them.

Anyone who threatens to use Chemical Weapons on their own people is a bad guy.

I did not hear him threaten any such thing. Do you actually have a link to a video of him saying that or is that just more propaganda?

Your title of this thread: US ready to act if Assad uses WMDs

Should be US ready to act as if Assad uses WMDs.



That's what they did to Saddam.

Here we go again, weapons of mass destruction, chemical warfare. Sound like the Trump birthers.

They never change their M.O. because they don't have much of an imagination OR because they follow very specific "world domination" instructions.

another Egypt Fiasco!

just like the u s was going to act if they tried to get wmd

the u s is a bad communicator no wonder we have lost respect in the world

the u s neither says what it means nor means what it says


just a thought but hey what do i know