Obama says no 'final decision' on Syria strike

United Nations arms experts convoy leaving Damascus' Moadamiyet al-Sham suburb US President Barack Obama said Friday he had taken no "final decision" on striking Syria but that the world could not accept the gassing of women and children .
Calling Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons a threat to US national security, Obama said the response would be "narrow" and "limited."
Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry promised Friday the United States had carefully examined its intelligence on Syria's weapons and would not repeat the mistakes that preceded the Iraq war.
"Our intelligence community has carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack," he said, referring to last week's alleged chemical strike outside Damascus.
"It's done so more than mindful of the Iraq experience. We will not repeat that moment."
Earlier, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel insisted that Washington is still seeking an "international coalition" to take action against the Syrian regime.
"Our approach is to continue to find an international coalition that will act together," Hagel told a news conference.
Hagel said Washington respected the British parliament's stance rejecting participation in any punitive strikes against Syria's regime.
"We are continuing to consult with the British as with all of our allies. That consultation includes ways forward together on a response to this chemical weapons attack in Syria," he added.
The British parliament's decision also came after the failure of an improbable eleventh-hour effort by British diplomats to win UN backing for action against Bashar al-Assad's regime at a meeting of the permanent members of the Security Council.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's government was defeated by just 13 votes in the House of Commons in its bid for a "strong humanitarian response" to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.
That, combined with deadlock at the United Nations, appeared to effectively sound the death knell for the idea of a broad-based Western military coalition, although other American allies might still participate.
Caitlin Hayden, a National Security Council spokeswoman said that Obama's decision-making "will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States.
"He believes that there are core interests at stake for the United States and that countries who violate international norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable."
Earlier, envoys from the permanent five members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - had met at UN headquarters in New York.
The 45-minute meeting was the second since Britain proposed a draft resolution to permit "all necessary measures" to protect Syrian civilians after a suspected chemical weapons attack last week. But none of the envoys commented as they left.
Earlier in the week reports had suggested that a Western strike was imminent, but questions have been raised about the quality of the intelligence linking Assad to the attack.
The White House reached out to US lawmakers, with the president's top aides briefing congressional leaders in a 90 minute conference call.
Some members of Congress voiced support for limited, surgical strikes, while urging the administration to continue consulting closely with the Congress.
Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in the House, said she agreed with House Speaker John Boehner that "there needs to be more consultation with all members of Congress and additional transparency into the decision making process and timing, and that the case needs to be made to the American people.
"It is clear that the American people are weary of war. However, Assad gassing his own people is an issue of our national security, regional stability and global security. We must be clear that the United States rejects the use of chemical weapons by Assad or any other regime," she said.
US warships armed with scores of cruise missiles are converging on the eastern Mediterranean, and US military officials have said they are ready to launch a powerful barrage against regime targets in Syria.
Meanwhile, UN inspectors investigating gas attacks in Syria headed to a military hospital Friday on the last day of their probe, a security official said.
The official told AFP they were going to the hospital in the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, where victims of gas attacks are reportedly being treated.
The team of UN experts has this week been investigating the chemical gas attacks that reportedly took place in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21, and that the Syrian opposition says killed hundreds.
The inspectors left their hotel in UN-marked cars, accompanied by several vehicles belonging to Syrian forces, an AFP journalist reported.
Syrian authorities accuse rebels of having used poison gas on August 24 in Jobar, another Damascus neighbourhood, to push back an army offensive.
State television said some soldiers had been asphyxiated, and showed images of barrels that authorities reportedly found in the area containing "very dangerous toxic and chemical materials".
Western governments have blamed President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the alleged August 21 attack, but the Syrian government has strenuously denied being responsible.
If confirmed, it would be the deadliest use of chemical weapons since Saddam Hussein gassed Iraqi Kurds in 1988.
The UN inspectors are due to leave Syria by Saturday morning, and will report straight back to UN head Ban Ki-moon.
Source: AFP