Obama: I haven't decided on Syria strike yet
US president says in PBS interview 'tailored, limited' strike could be enough to send strong message to Assad that use of chemical weapons won't be tolerated, says officials concluded Syrian gov't behind last week's gas attack
President Barack Obama made the case on Wednesday for a limited military strike against Syria to deter the future use of chemical weapons, but added he had not made a decision yet on whether to take action.
Obama's administration has spent the past week discussing how to respond to an attack in the suburbs of Damascus that killed hundreds of people, an attack that the president said could only have been made by the Syrian government.
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A senior US official has said strikes could last several days and would involve other country's armed forces. Western armies are expected to wait until UN investigators leave the country in several days.
Obama said a "tailored, limited" strike, not a protracted engagement like Iraq, could be enough to send a strong message that the use of chemical weapons cannot be tolerated.
"If we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying, 'Stop doing this,' this can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term," he told "PBS Newshour" in a televised interview.
Obama said US officials had concluded the Syrian government was responsible for the attacks, and did not believe the Syrian opposition had a role in them.
US national interests could be at risk if Syrian chemical weapons fall into the wrong hands, Obama said.
"We want to make sure that they are not loose in a way that ultimately, could affect our security," he said.
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