Obama meets with advisers over Syria, continues to 'gather facts'

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

President Obama met Saturday with top national security advisers following widespread reports about the Syrian government using chemical weapon on civilians, but will continue to gather facts before deciding on a course of action, the White House said.

 

The reports of thousands killed or stricken by chemical weapons Wednesday near Damascus is the latest allegation about such tactics in the Middle East country’s roughly 2-year-long civil war.

 

The president said last year that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Assad would “cross a red line.” But the White House has been reluctant to take direct military actions, instead supplying rebel forces with non-lethal aid, weighing military options and trying to garner international support.

 

The president and his National Security Council considered eyewitness accounts and medical-records reports but “the U.S. intelligence community continues to gather facts to ascertain what occurred,” the White House said.

 

In addition to the president holding the meeting, he spoke Saturday with United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron.

 

The leaders talked about shared security challenges, including the continued violence in Syria, and expressed their “grave concern” about the reported use of chemical weapons. And they will continue to consult closely about “possible responses by the international community,” the White House also said.

 

The White House meeting was attended by at least 15 members of the president’s security council including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, but it was unclear who was in the Oval Office.

 

Hagel suggested Friday that the Pentagon might move Naval forces closer to Syria in preparation for a possible decision by Obama to order military strikes.

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Preparing for intervention?