Secretary of State John Kerry will make a statement about Syria this afternoon at 12:30 EST. The preparations for limited use of military force in Syria are already underway, despite dissent among the allies of the United States and the lack of approval from the Congress of the United States.
The statement will need to convince those listening that the attack on Syria has not been stymied by the setbacks in Britain or the dissent at home. The Obama administration is expected to release a selection of intelligence material that will add weight to the argument that the Assad regime used chemical weapons against its own people.
Chemical weapons attack
The United States is heading to war in Syria in order to stop the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime on its own citizens. A United Nations chemical weapons inspection team is expected to deliver its report on the nature of the weapons used in the attack and the likely perpetrators in the coming days.
Members of the British House of Commons that are voting on whether to go to war in Syria demanded that the Prime Minister David Cameron at least wait until the team had delivered its reports. According to the Obama administration, intelligence strongly suggests that the Assad regime used the chemical weapons on its own people on purpose.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a press conference on Tuesday that there was no doubt about the nature of the attacks or the perpetrators. Carney was insistent that there was a chemical weapons attack and it was carried out by forces on the side of the regime. In the British Parliament, the rhetoric and arguments of the Obama administration were readily likened to those of the Bush administration in the lead up to the war in Iraq.
Syria military strike imminent
Despite the problems faced in Britain, it seems that limited military action by the United States and France in Syria will start in the coming days. The planned release of intelligence by the Obama administration and the speech by Secretary for State John Kerry this afternoon will add weight to the inevitability of the attacks.
World markets were shaky today on the uncertainty, with almost all of the major asset groups down in price on today’s market.
