President Obama said his administration is investigating whether chemical weapons were used in Syria and will “find out precisely whether or not this red-line was crossed.”
Obama warned that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime would be a “game changer,” though he stopped short of laying out what actions he might take if a chemical attack had occurred.
“We intend to investigate thoroughly exactly what happened,” Obama said at a joint press conference in Israel with Prime Minister. “I won’t make an announcement today about next steps because I think we have to gather the facts.”
The president said that he was “deeply skeptical” of the notion that it was opposition forces launching a chemical attack, which the Syrian government has alleged.
“We know the Syrian government has the capacity to carry out a chemical weapons attack, and we know that there are those in the Syrian government who have expressed a willingness to use chemical weapons if necessary to protect themselves,” Obama said.
His comments Wednesday were the first since Tuesday’s attack, in which Assad’s forces and the opposition blamed the other for an alleged chemical attack that left more than two dozen dead.
For more on Obama's comments on Syria, click here.
