GREAT SNIT-IN: Protesters in England yesterday want no part of a military strike against Syria, a sentiment backed by Parliament, even as UK intelligence revealed gas attacks. (
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Syria’s Bashar al-Assad attacked his own people at least 15 times with lethal chemical weapons since 2012, Britain revealed yesterday in laying out the case against his bloodstained regime.
There is documented evidence of other poison-gas attacks, but the proof isn’t as overwhelming as it was with last week’s ghastly assault on the outskirts of Damascus, which killed hundreds of men, women and children, Prime Minister David Cameron’s government said.
The White House briefed key congressional leaders on potential US war plans last night, as other developments in the swiftly changing Syrian crisis unfolded:
* Cameron’s urgent plea for support for joining the US hard line against Syria was rebuffed when a watered-down government motion was stunningly defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 285 to 272.
“It’s clear to me that the British Parliament and the British people do not wish to see military action; I get that, and I will act accordingly,” Cameron said moments after the surprise defeat.
* The Obama administration is still on the fence about whether to strike the Syrian regime. In a conference call last night, high-level aides to President Obama said he has not yet made a decision on the timing and the scope of an attack.
Earlier in the day, however administration officials said they were prepared to attack Syria alone if allies and the United Nations fail to join the anti-Assad effort.
* Officials said the United States has to strike Syria quickly, before Assad launches another poison-gas attack, possibly at a much bigger target.
“Aleppo would probably be one of the likely targets,” a senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal.
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is a stronghold of anti-Assad rebels.
The administration was pushing back against leaks earlier yesterday that quoted officials as saying the evidence that Syria had used chemical weapons was “not a slam dunk.”
* The embattled Assad regime braced for an imminent attack. Assad’s forces have moved several Scud missiles and dozens of launchers from a base north of Damascus, apparently in anticipation of US airstrikes, rebels said.
* Assad supporters made wild claims of their ability to retaliate against the United States and Britain. One Syrian army officer boasted of 8,000 “suicide martyrs” willing to bring down Western jets in kamikaze attacks.
* The United Nations said its inspectors seeking evidence of last week’s poison-gas attack would leave Syria by tomorrow, but tests may take much longer to yield conclusive results.
US officials sent mixed signals yesterday about what an American-led military strike would look like.
White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said that what the administration is planning is “very discreet and limited.” But other officials said Obama’s options include a campaign lasting several days.
Also, instead of the purely punitive strikes described earlier in the week, officials stressed yesterday that the goal is to stop Assad from again using chemical weapons.
During the day, Obama tried to reassure congressional and international skeptics that the United States was pursuing the right policy. He discussed Syria with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who wrote to the president earlier this week seeking a legal justification for a military strike and the objectives of any potential action.
Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said the speaker wasn’t satisfied with what he heard.
“Only the president can answer these questions, and it is clear that further dialogue and consultation with Congress, as well as communication with the American public, will be needed,” Buck said.
Critics include Democrats such as Washington state Rep. Adam Smith, who said airstrikes might drag the United States into the 27-month-long Syrian civil war.
“Simply lashing out with military force under the banner of ‘doing something’ will not secure our interests in Syria,” said Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
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