The Obama administration is said to be preparing military options and legal justification for a possible intervention in Syria with or without UN backing, having assessed that “there is very little doubt at this point that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians” in Damascus on Aug. 21. The US dismissed Syria’s decision to allow UN inspectors into the area of the alleged recent strike as “too late to be credible.” The UN inspection team had arrived in Syria on Aug. 18 to investigate prior reports of chemical weapons use in the country, including Syria’s request in March for a UN investigation into possible chemical weapons use by rebels at Khan al-Assal. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held an emergency meeting in Jordan with defense chiefs from 10 nations to discuss regional security implications of the ongoing crisis in Syria.
