John Kerry: US has proof that sarin gas used in Syria

Daily Telegraph ^ | 1 September, 2013 | Harriet Alexander, and agencies

[ScaniaBoy]

John Kerry, the American secretary of state, has said that the United States now has evidence of sarin gas use in Syria and said "the case gets stronger by the day" for a military attack.

President Bashar al-Assad, he said, "has now joined the list of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein" in deploying chemical weapons against his population.

A day after President Barack Obama stepped back from his threat to launch an attack, Mr Kerry said in a series of interviews on the Sunday news shows that the administration had learnt of the sarin use within the past 24 hours through samples of hair and blood. The samples were provided to Washington by activists in Damascus, independently of the UN investigation.

Mr Kerry also said he was confident that Congress will give Mr Obama its backing for an attack against Syria, but he also said the president has authority to act on his own if Congress doesn't give its approval. While Mr Kerry stopped short of saying Mr Obama was committed to such a course even if politicians refuse to authorise force, he did tell ABC's This Week that "we are not going to lose this vote."

Congress is scheduled to return from a summer break on Sept. 9.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Since you believe that Russia beats us hands-down on freedom of the press and quality of life,

I don't believe that.

I put more stock in their reporting on US issues. I do not believe the US media.

I know Russia's tax system puts ours to shame.

[sakic]

In other words, you don’t have a clue what freedom of the press means, something that I have maintained throughout our exchange. There is little point in explaining it to you again.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

There you go again, defending the indefensible. You're a urinalist aren't you.

you don’t have a clue what freedom of the press means

I know it when I see it...which is damn scarce.