Obama administration promises Syrian use of chemical weapons a 'red line' for US, will prompt action
| PRAGUE
The聽Obama聽administration stressed anew Monday that it wouldn't accept any use of聽chemicalweapons by the Assad regime, but didn't say if it had any new evidence to suggest a possible deployment of the stockpiles by the embattled Syrian government.
Speaking in Prague, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated President Barack聽Obama'sdeclaration that Syrian action on聽chemical聽weapons was a "red line" for the United States that would prompt action. She didn't address news reports suggesting fresh activity at Syrian聽chemical聽weapons depots, but insisted that Washington would address any threat that arises.
"We have made our views very clear: This is a red line for the United States," Clinton told reporters. "I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using聽chemical聽weapons against their own people. But suffice it to say, we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur."
Syria聽is believed to have several hundred ballistic surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying聽chemicalwarheads.
Its arsenal is a particular threat to American allies Turkey and Israel, and聽Obama聽singled out the threat posed by the unconventional weapons earlier this year as a potential cause for deeper U.S. involvement in聽Syria'scivil war. Up to now, the United States has opposed military intervention or providing arms support to聽Syria'srebels for fear of further militarizing a conflict that activists say has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011.
Clinton said that while the actions of President Bashar Assad's government have been deplorable,聽chemicalweapons would bring them to a new level.
"We once again issue a very strong warning to the Assad regime that their behavior is reprehensible, their actions against their own people have been tragic," she said. "But there is no doubt that there's a line between even the horrors that they've already inflicted on the Syrian people and moving to what would be an internationally condemned step of utilizing their聽chemical聽weapons."
