Obama: No Decision Yet on Syria Response

U.S. President Barack Obama says he
has not yet made a decision about how
to respond to what the United States
sees as the use of chemical weapons in
Syria, but he says that Washington has
concluded that Syria's government
carried out the attacks.

In an interview with the Public
Broadcasting Service late Wednesday,
Obama said he continues to have
extensive discussions with his national
security team and has received options
from the military.

He said the U.S. has concluded that the
government of President Bashar al-
Assad on August 21 carried out an
attack in a Damascus suburb, killing
hundreds of people.

The president said the violation of an
international norm against use of
chemical weapons, in a volatile region,
makes it necessary to respond.
"We have concluded that the Syrian
government in fact carried these out
and if that is so, then there need to be
international consequences, so we are
consulting with our allies, we are
consulting with the international
community. I have no interest in any
kind of open-ended conflict in Syria, but
we do have to make sure that when
countries break international norms on
weapons like chemical weapons that
could threaten us, they are held
accountable," said Obama.

The U.S. president was asked what a
military strike, even a limited one, would
accomplish.
He said that while it would not solve the
problems in Syria, it would send a
strong signal to the regime in
Damascus.

"I think it's important that if in fact we
make a choice to have repercussions for
the use of chemical weapons, then the
Assad regime which is involved in a civil
war, trying to protect itself, will have
received a pretty strong signal that in
fact it better not do it again."

Obama reiterated U.S. readiness to work
with anyone, including Syria's main ally
Russia, toward a political transition and
bring parties together to resolve the
conflict.

The president, however, said Syria must
understand that it cannot break
international norms and standards of
decency and create a situation in which
U.S. national interests are affected.
Obama referred to the regional impact
from the Syrian conflict, potential
threats to U.S. allies and partners such
as Turkey, as well as Israel and Jordan,
and U.S. bases in the region.
The United States, he said, cannot
permit a "breach of the non-proliferation
norm" that could allow chemical
weapons to fall into the wrong hands.

Obama