Obama's line in Syria sand: No chemical weapons

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said yesterday the United States would reconsider its opposition to military involvement in the Syrian civil war if President Bashar Assad's beleaguered regime resorts to chemical or biological weapons. He called such action a "red line" for the United States.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Obama said the use of weapons would considerably widen a conflict that has dragged on for a year and a half and killed 20,000 people, according to activists. Syria possesses extensive chemical and biological weapons stockpiles and has threatened to use them if the country comes under foreign attack.

"That's an issue that doesn't just concern Syria. It concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us," Obama said, also acknowledging the possibility that militant groups might acquire some of those weapons. "We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people."

"We have communicated in no uncertain terms with every player in the region," Obama said, "that that's a red line for us, and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front . . ."

The remarks outlined for the first time the point at which the administration could feel forced to intervene militarily in Syria's increasingly messy war, even if Obama stopped short of saying the use of weapons of mass destruction would necessarily prompt an American military response.

Syria acknowledged last month for the first time that it has what is believed to be among the biggest chemical and biological weapons programs in the world. Assad's military regime is believed to have mustard gas of the type used by Saddam Hussein against Iran and Iraq's Kurdish minority in the 1980s, as well as nerve agents such as tabun, sarin and VX that can be delivered in missiles, bombs, rockets, artillery shells or other large munitions.

Obama's declaration comes two days before the top U.S. diplomat for the Mideast, Beth Jones, leads a delegation to Turkey to work on plans for worst-case scenarios in Syria, paramount among them a chemical or biological weapons attack on regime opponents.

In Syria, government forces heavily shelled the cities of Aleppo and Daraa and a suburb of Damascus on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Up to 30 people were killed, rights groups and activists said.

The action showed Assad's regime would not let the holiday stall its drive to quell the 18-month-old uprising.