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Carney: White House can't rule out chemical weapons use in Syria
The Washington Free Beacon
Adam Kredo
1/17/2013
Excerpt:
The White House on Thursday again evaded direct questions about whether chemical weapons have been deployed in Syria.
White House press secretary Jay Carney would not deny definitively that chemical weapons were used in the city of Homs, despite claims made in a recent classified State Department cable that such weapons had been used.
Carney referred to the information in the cable as “anecdotal” and said that the State Department could not independently corroborate the information in the cable, which originated from a third-party source on the ground in Syria.
“The State Department addressed this issue yesterday. One of our diplomatic posts received anecdotal information from a third party regarding an alleged incident in Syria in December,” Carney said during the White House press briefing.
“This information was relayed to the State Department in Washington. We looked into these allegations at the time we received the information and found no credible evidence to corroborate or confirm that chemical weapons were used,” Carney said.
Foreign Policy magazine broke the news of the cable earlier this week and provided additional evidence that chemical weapons were likely used:
Carney went on to say in Thursday’s briefing that the U.S. is “closely” monitoring the situation.
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View the complete article, including video links, at:
http://freebeacon.com/redlined/
Carney: White House can't rule out chemical weapons use in Syria
The Washington Free Beacon
Adam Kredo
1/17/2013
Excerpt:
The White House on Thursday again evaded direct questions about whether chemical weapons have been deployed in Syria.
White House press secretary Jay Carney would not deny definitively that chemical weapons were used in the city of Homs, despite claims made in a recent classified State Department cable that such weapons had been used.
Carney referred to the information in the cable as “anecdotal” and said that the State Department could not independently corroborate the information in the cable, which originated from a third-party source on the ground in Syria.
“The State Department addressed this issue yesterday. One of our diplomatic posts received anecdotal information from a third party regarding an alleged incident in Syria in December,” Carney said during the White House press briefing.
“This information was relayed to the State Department in Washington. We looked into these allegations at the time we received the information and found no credible evidence to corroborate or confirm that chemical weapons were used,” Carney said.
Foreign Policy magazine broke the news of the cable earlier this week and provided additional evidence that chemical weapons were likely used:
Activist and doctors on the ground in Homs have been circulating evidence of the Dec. 23 incident over the past three weeks in an attempt to convince the international community of its veracity. An Arabic-language report circulated by the rebels’ Homs medical committee detailed the symptoms of several of the victims who were brought to a makeshift field hospital inside the city and claims that the victims suffered severe effects of inhaling poisonous gas.
Activists have also been circulating videos of the victims on YouTube and Facebook. In one of the videos, victims can be seen struggling for breath and choking on their own vomit.
Activists have also been circulating videos of the victims on YouTube and Facebook. In one of the videos, victims can be seen struggling for breath and choking on their own vomit.
Carney went on to say in Thursday’s briefing that the U.S. is “closely” monitoring the situation.
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View the complete article, including video links, at:
http://freebeacon.com/redlined/