US President Barack Obama issued a new warning to Syria that using chemical weapons would be a “game changer” as he faced rising pressure at home and abroad to intervene in the civil war.
But a day after US officials said they suspected that the deadly agent sarin had already been fired off in small-scale attacks, Obama warned Washington must act prudently, and establish exactly if, how and when such arms were used.
Obama, who had previously told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line,” promised a “vigorous” US and international probe into the latest reports.
But he appeared wary of launching military action based on initial intelligence reports of chemical weapons use, even as other official comments and media suggested that is exactly what had happened.
“I think all of us, not just in the United States but around the world, recognize how we cannot stand by and permit the systematic use of weapons like chemical weapons on civilian populations,” he said.