US distributes videos of ‘chemical attack victims’
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The Obama administration is distributing videos showing a chemical weapons attack in Syria to help convince Americans and Congress that a military intervention against the Syrian government is necessary, Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday.
Speaking in Paris, Kerry said the videos make clear that the attack is not something Americans can ignore.
The United States has accused Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government of using chemical weapons in an August 21 assault, and cited intelligence reports as saying it killed at least 1,429 people, including more than 400 children.
The videos show victims exhibiting what appear to be symptoms of nerve gas poisoning.
“Those videos make it clear to people that these are real human beings, real children, parents being affected in ways that are unacceptable to anybody, anywhere by any standards,” Kerry said.
“And the United States of America that has always stood with others to say we will not allow this — this is not our values, it’s not who we are,” he added.
Kerry is in Europe trying to raise support for a strike in Syria and also discussing Middle East peace negotiations.
Kerry met representatives of the Arab League in Paris, also part of the effort to garner support for a Syrian strike. He said Saudi Arabia, a staunch supporter of the Syrian opposition fighting Assad, supports military action.
Kerry said the US did not rule out returning to the UN Security Council to secure a Syria resolution once UN inspectors complete a report on the chemical weapons attack.
French President Francois Hollande, increasingly under pressure at home and among European partners to seek a UN mandate before any military intervention in Syria, suggested on Saturday he could seek a resolution at the UN Security Council.
“On President Hollande’s comments with respect to the UN, the president, and all of us, are listening carefully to all of our friends,” Kerry said.
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