BBC News with David Austin.
France has released an intelligence report saying that the Syrian government launched last month’s attack on a Damascus suburb with a massive use of chemical agents. The report on the August 21st attack says technical analysis of rockets at the scene showed that they were adapted for chemical weapons. The report said the Syrian government bombed the area after the attack to destroy evidence. Chris Morris is in Paris.
What’s clear from the French intelligence report is that it sets out previous occasions on which France believes chemical weapons have been used by the Assad regime. But it suggests that those were almost efforts just to spread fear whereas this attack on August 21st, it says, was at a level of sophistication that could only belong to the regime and was a massive use of chemical agents. It’s building the case a little bit further both the French public and for French politicians as well.
In an interview with a French newspaper, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned that Western strikes against his country risked igniting a regional war. He said France would face repercussions if it became involved in such a military action. A leading American proponent of military action to topple President Assad, Senator John McCain, warned of the consequences if President Obama was unable to get military action approved in next week’s congressional debate.
“If the Congress were to reject a resolution like this after the president of the United States has already committed to action, the consequences would be catastrophic in that the credibility of this country with friends and adversaries alike would be shredded, and there would be not only implications for this presidency but for our future presidencies as well.”