US plans for 3 days of attacks on Syria

War planners now aim to unleash a heavy barrage of missile strikes to be followed swiftly by additional attacks on targets that may have been missed or remain standing after the initial launch, the Times cited officials as saying.

Two US officers told the newspaper that the White House has asked for an expanded target list to include "many more" than the initial list of around 50 targets.

The move is part of an effort to obtain additional firepower to damage Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's dispersed forces.

Pentagon planners are now considering using Air Force bombers, as well as five US missile destroyers currently patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from far out of range of Syrian air defenses, according to the report.

The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group with one cruiser and three destroyers positioned in the Read Sea can also fire cruise missiles at Syria.

"There will be several volleys and an assessment after each volley, but all within 72 hours and a clear indication when we are done," an officer familiar with the planning told the Times.

The intensified military planning comes as President Barack Obama prepares to personally make his case to the American people and further press reluctant lawmakers on the need for action after Assad allegedly used chemical weapons on his own people last month.

Obama is scheduled to tape interviews Monday with anchors of the three major broadcast networks, as well as with PBS, CNN and Fox News.

The interviews, to air that night, will precede Obama's address to the nation Tuesday ahead of an expected full Senate vote.

The president favors a limited attack with only a reduced number of warplanes to drop bombs over Syria, according to the Times.

Amid doubts that a limited US offensive would sufficiently hamper Assad's military capabilities, one officer told the newspaper that the planned operation would amount to a "show of force" over several days that would not fundamentally change the situation on the ground.

The planned US strike "will not strategically impact the current situation in the war, which the Syrians have well in hand, though fighting could go on for another two years," another US officer said.

Videos of Syria sarin gas victims surface as White House presses case for strike

The 13 graphic videos were shown to members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, according to the panel's website, which says they "explicitly claim to show victims of a chemical or poison gas attack."

The videos - which the panel said were posted on YouTube by pro-Syrian opposition users - depict scenes of sheer horror, including convulsing children, as well as men sprawled on the floor apparently vomiting and foaming at the mouth.

One video shows what appear to be dead bodies of all ages and gender lying still side by side. In another, a distressed man holds the apparently lifeless body of a little boy, whom he places on the floor next to an ominously still young girl.

The videos were selected by the US Open Source Center at the request of Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the committee, to "depict a representative range of YouTube content posted regarding the reported 21 August chemical weapons attacks in the suburbs of Damascus," the website said.

Washington says more than 1,400 people were killed in the attack, including more than 400 children.

The senators were told by the intelligence community that the videos had been verified, according to CNN, which first aired the graphic material.

However, the broadcaster said it could not independently verify the authenticity of the material and stressed that the videos do not show who is responsible for the attack.

But it said it was able to verify that the US administration is showing the videos to members of Congress as part of its effort to convince lawmakers of the need for a limited military strike on the Syrian regime.

The videos surfaced as President Barack Obama prepares to personally make his case to the American people on the need for action.

Obama is scheduled to be interviewed by three network news anchors, as well as with PBS, CNN and Fox.

The interviews, to air that night, will precede an address by Obama on Tuesday.

Setting the stage Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough will hit the morning television talk shows.

In Congress, meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel and others senior administration officials will hold a briefing for all members of the House of Representatives on Monday, a White House official said.

That will be followed by a briefing Wednesday for all senators.

US may attack Syria without UN sanction

UN experts are now investigating an incident that took place near Damascus on August 21 and was presumably a chemical attack.

Mr. Kerry said that President Obama is now viewing the possible variants of his future steps and hasn't made a final decision yet.

UN Syria report likely released next week - French President

"When the (US) Congress will have voted on Thursday or Friday and when we will have the inspectors' report, likely at the end of the week, a decision will have to be made," Hollande said, speaking from the southeastern city of Nice.

Germany joins statement urging 'strong response' on Syria

US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed a European Union statement on Saturday that said there appeared to be strong evidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical attack on civilians in August.

"We are very grateful for the statement that came out of the meeting today with respect to Syria - a strong statement about the need for accountability," Kerry said after meeting EU foreign ministers in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Germany joins statement urging 'strong response' on Syria

Germany has signed on to a global statement urging "a strong response" to a deadly chemical weapons attack blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Saturday.

Germany was the fifth European Union member to sign the statement issued at a G20 summit in Saint Petersburg where it was signed by 11 countries - including the US, Britain, France, Italy and Spain.

"After we saw this excellent and very wise position of the European Union, the (German) Chancellor (Angela Merkel) and myself decided that we support now the G20 statement," Westerwelle said.

While the statement called for a strong international response, it fell short of supporting military strikes on Syria that US President Barack Obama is considering

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers on Saturday called for "a clear and strong response" to a chemical weapons attack in Syria last month blamed on the Damascus regime.

"Information from a wide variety of sources ... seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible for this attack, as it is the only one that possesses chemical weapons agents and the means for their delivery in a sufficient quantity," said Catherine Ashton.

"A clear and strong response is crucial to make clear that such crimes are unacceptable and that there can be no impunity," she added.

Ashton was speaking at the end of a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry held in Vilnius in Lithuania on Saturday, the bloc's 28 foreign ministers blamed the use of chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb of August 21 on the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

At the same time, they did not even mention a possible military intervention in Syria.

Lavrov and Kerry discuss situation in Syria

"This means that the expert conclusions on all cases of possible use of chemical weapons in Syria should be submitted to the UN Security Council, which will make decisions. We oppose the use of force by-passing this mechanism," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report posted on its official website on Thursday.

The ministry specified that the phone conversation was on Kerry's initiative and addressed the situation with Syria.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Kerry on Wednesday of dodging Lavrov’s calls without an explanation.

The ministry also claimed that US diplomats repeatedly declined to set up a time for a telephone conversation between Lavrov and Kerry since last Saturday, when US President Barack Obama formally requested the Congress to endorse US airstrikes against the Syrian governmental forces.

The US attack is meant to punish the Syrian regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians. Russia opposes the strikes, with Russian President Vladimir Putin insisting Friday that the chemical attack was work of a Syrian insurgency looking to trigger foreign attacks against the advancing governmental army.

Ban Ki-moon urges G20 leaders to convene conference on Syria

Ban Ki-moon promised to submit the results of the investigation of the use of chemical weapons in Syria to the UN Security Council and all the UN member-states immediately after these results are available.

He urged the G20 leaders to strictly observe the UN Charter with any response to the potential use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The UN highly appreciates the Syrian government’s assistance in investigating the reports about a chemical attack in the vicinity of Damascus, Ban Ki-moon said.

G20 leaders divided on Syria issue

"The G20 has just now finished the dinner session at which the divisions about Syria were confirmed," Letta, who attended the dinner, said in a comment on his official Twitter feed.

US strike on Syria to be another nail in coffin of international law - Peskov

"It will have very sad consequences and will cause complete destabilization of the region," Peskov said, adding that such an attack will also cause more unrest in the neighboring countries.

The Kremlin would appreciate teh US Congress taking into account every single argument before making a final decion on Syria, said Peskov. He has no doubt that Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will express their opinions on Syria during the G20 summit.

"Putin will take advantage of the excellent opportunity to present his, and Russia’s, view on Syria. Especially considering the fact that the situation in the camp supporting a strike on Syria is controversial now. We cannot say that the idea of a military operation was supported by many countries," he said.

According to Peskov, the idea of a military operation has not found broad support even among the permanent allies of the United States, because the international community has already had bitter experience of such operations.

"They never led to stability and prosperty and only brought suffering to people. And today we all have to deal with the unfortunate consequences of those operations in the form of continuing instability in the countries subjected to them," the Press Secretary of the President said.

 

Voice of Russia