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President Obama is spending his Sunday golfing, according to the White House. The outing comes amid rising signs the U.S. is inching closer to launching a military strike against Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons by that country’s government. Here’s the report from the White House press pool on the golfing outing: Motorcade arrived at the rolling, green Ft. Belvoir golf course at 1:24 p.m. after uneventful ride. A few golfers paused in their games to watch the passing motorcade. Golfing partners are David Krone, Mike Brush, and Marvin Nicholson. After finding community center closed, pool is holding...

Russia warned the United States on Sunday against repeating past mistakes, saying that any unilateral military action in Syria would undermine efforts for peace and have a devastating impact on the security situation in the Middle East.

Senior commanders in the rebel forces in Syria published a videotaped announcement Thursday in which they expressed their intent to respond to the chemical gas attack by President Bashar al-Assad's forces last week, by hitting back with all the means at their disposal and no “red lines.” SNIP: The Syrian regime, meanwhile, continues to deny using chemical weapons, and says it has photographic proof of the existence of chemical materials in the possession of the rebels.

the Obama administration prepared for a possible military response by moving naval forces closer to Syria. Obama discussed the situation in Syria by telephone with British Prime Minister David Cameron, the White House said. It was Obama's first known conversation with a foreign leader about Syria since the reports this week that hundreds of Syrians had been killed by the alleged chemical attack in a suburb of Damascus, the capital.

The Syrian military have discovered a warehouse with chemical agents in a suburb of Damascus. Correspondent of the Al-Ihbariya Syrian information channel Yara Saleh who was among the journalists who inspected the site of the scary find has given an exclusive interview to The Voice of Russia. She says that the discovered warehouse was at the same time a laboratory where shells were stuffed with poisonous chemicals. The Syrian military found chemical weapons in the rebels’ tunnel located in the Jobar suburb of Damascus. Later the Syrian state TV showed the discovered poisonous agents and medical drugs. Journalist Yara Saleh...

"Al Jazeera, Reuters Published the news of Massacre in Syria one day before the Massacre Happened" Here is an item of extreme importance. If the allegation is true that Al Jazeera published photos of the gas attack and massacre the day before it happened, it is strong evidence that the attack is part of a propaganda campaign to smear the Syrian Government with false allegations and to provide a pretext for Western intervention on behalf of the rebels who are clearly losing the war against the Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The timing of the attack is very suspicious just as UN...

Syrian government claims it found chemical weapons in rebel tunnels State TV says 'chemical agents' discovered in Damascus as Assad regime continues to deny Wednesday's alleged attack The Syrian government has said it has discovered chemical agents in tunnels in Damascus after the killing of hundreds of Syrians in a suspected chemical weapons attack on Wednesday.Syrian state television said government soldiers found chemical agents in rebel tunnels in the Damascus suburb of Jobar on Saturday and some of the troops were suffocating."Army heroes are entering the tunnels of the terrorists and saw chemical agents," state television quoted a source as...

President Barack Obama said the alleged mass chemical attack in Syria “is clearly a big event of grave concern,” he told CNN in an interview aired Friday morning. But the President was hesitant to get the U.S. more involved. Citing the ongoing human and financial burdens the U.S. still faces in Afghanistan, he was unwilling to “get involved with everything immediately” and “drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region.” Two years ago this month, Obama called for the ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. A year ago, Obama drew what he called...

London, Jan 30 (ANI): The Obama administration gave green signal to a chemical weapons attack plan in Syria that could be blamed on President Bashar al Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country, leaked documents have shown. A new report, that contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence, showed a scheme 'approved by Washington'. As per the scheme 'Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons,' the Daily Mail reports.

Palestinian sources: 22 killed in Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus from inhalation of poisonous gases. Syrian opposition activists say that the military has used chemical weapons against the Al Yarmouk district of Damascus, an area of the city comprised predominantly of Palestinian refugees, Israel Radio reported. Palestinian sources said that 22 people have been killed in the area, most from inhalation of poisonous gases. Related: 'Capturing Yarmouk camp another Syrian rebel gain' PA heads to Syria to stop attacks on Palestinians In what was considered a significant tactical and moral victory, forces battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad captured...

Russia's envoy to the UN has handed over evidence which indicates Syrian rebels used sarin gas in an attack in March.

Via Greg Hengler. Like former NYT chief Bill Keller, I can’t see any pitfalls ahead from the White House being at odds with the UN on WMD while it plans war against a Middle Eastern regime. Further to Ed’s post this morning, here’s a crafty theory I saw floated somewhere on Twitter last night to possibly explain why the rebels, rather than Assad, are suddenly tossing chemical weapons at their enemies: What if an Assad ally, like Iran or Russia, gave it to them? The longer the war drags on, the greater the risk of western intervention; if, like Moscow...

One of the lead United Nations investigators probing human rights abuses in Syria said Sunday that testimony from victims and field medical staff indicates that Syrian opposition forces -- and not the regime of Bashar al Assad -- may have deployed sarin gas.

(Reuters) - U.N. human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria's civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday. The United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapons, which are banned under international law, said commission member Carla Del Ponte.

There are only two words to describe the New York Times’ explanation of Barack Obama’s red-line dance – smart power.  According to anonymous “senior officials” at the White House, Obama’s advisors now claim that they had a precise calculation of what to say about Bashar al-Assad and the potential use of chemical weapons in Syria.  As soon as Obama went off the TelePrompter, though, that’s when he crossed them up and drew a red line the White House had not even contemplated. Or so they claim now: The origins of this dilemma can be traced in large part to a weekend last...

CNN senior political analyst David Gergen made a statement on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday that was rather hawkish for a former Clinton adviser. "If [President Obama] doesn't respect his own red line on Syria, there is no question that Israel and Iran will look at that and say, 'Well, we can't trust the guy. He’s not going to be tough.'"

Video at link

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons could be a greater threat after that nation’s president leaves power and could end up targeting Americans at home, lawmakers warned Sunday as they considered a U.S. response that stops short of sending military forces there.</p>

Rogers: Iran and North Korea Are Watching Obama’s Red Line on Syria By Patrick Brennan April 28, 2013 On ABC’s This Week, Representative Mike Rogers argued that the president’s presentation of a “red line” on Syria’s use of chemical weapons — which Rogers and other congressmen argue has been confirmed this week — has put him in a serious bind, because “more than just Syria, Iran is paying attention to this, North Korea is paying attention to this. The options aren’t huge, but some action needs to be taken.” “It can’t be a dotted line; it can’t be anything other...

After days of tough talk from the White House regarding Syria's use of chemical weapons, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell emerged on April 26 to say no action will be taken against the country based on "intelligence assessments" until the administration can "corroborate the facts." He said, despite reports announcing intelligence assessments that show chemical weapons have been used--even the assessments released by the State Department on April 25--there is not enough evidence to act. A reporter ... asked Ventrell: "... why make it public?" Ventrell said it was, "an administrative decision to respond in a public fashion." He then...