FOXNews.com: Assad Has Used Chem Weapons, Crossing 'Red Lines,' US Says

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Assad Has Used Chem Weapons, Crossing 'Red Lines,' US Says Jun 13th 2013, 23:36 The White House announced Thursday that the Obama administration has conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons against his opposition, killing up to 150 people in the last year and crossing what President Barack Obama has called a "red line" that would lead to greater American involvement in the crisis. It was not immediately clear what the next U.S. move would be but a statement by Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said that the use of chemical weapons by Syria has changed the President's "calculus." "Following a deliberative review, our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year," Rhodes said in a statement released by the White House press office. "Our intelligence community has high confidence in that assessment given multiple, independent streams of information.  The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete." The statement reiterated Obama's repeated statements that the use of chemical weapons would cross a red line, saying that "the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades." It added, "The President has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has." As a result, it said, the president has augmented the provision of non-lethal assistance to the civilian opposition, and has also authorized the expansion of assistance to the Supreme Military Council (SMC).  Senator John McCain (R-AZ), speaking on the Senate floor, said the president needed to understand that just supplying weapons would not change the equation on the ground. McCain also said more substantial measures, such as heavy weaponry and a no-fly zone, might be necessary. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers issued a statement saying,"I am pleased that President Obama's Administration has joined the growing international chorus declaring that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons in Syria, crossing the red line drawn by the President last August. Assad must not be allowed to continue to commit these atrocities."  Congress was notified of the chemical weapons finding Thursday in classified documents sent to Capitol Hill, White House officials said. Obama will discuss the assessments, along with broader problems in Syria, next week during the G-8 summit in Northern Ireland. The Obama admiistration announced in April that it had "varying degrees of confidence" that sarin had been used in Syria. But it said at the time that it had not been able to determine who was responsible for deploying the gas. The more conclusive findings announced Thursday were aided by evidence sent to the United States by France, which along wih Britain, announced it had determined that Assad's government had used chemical weapons in the two-year conflict. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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