President Obama pointedly avoided drawing another red line over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons Thursday, saying that the U.S. is working with the international community to confirm reports of chlorine use against the Syrian people.
Obama, speaking to reporters after a summit with Gulf countries at Camp David, noted that chlorine itself is not formally recognized as a chemical weapon by international agencies even though it can produce the same effect if used in bombs.
If the U.S., working with the international community, confirms Assad’s use of chlorine on rebel fights or civilians, Obama pledged to again work with the international community and reach out to Russia to try to stop it.
“If we have the kinds of confirmation we need, we will once gain work the international community and reach out to patrons of Assad like Russia to put a stop to it,” he said.
He also bristled at a reporter’s suggestion that leaders of Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, who reneged on their invite to the summit, were upset about Obama’s failure two years ago to use military force to enforce his red line against Assad’s use of chemical weapons.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of folks in the region who are disappointed that Assad is no longer in possession of one of the biggest stockpiles of chemical weapons on earth,” he said.
The president did not address reports that investigators in Syria have discovered new traces of the chemical precursors to sarin and VX nerve agents at a previously undisclosed military site, which critics argue is a major blow to the credibility of the 2013 U.S.-Russia deal to remove chemical weapons from Assad’s use.
