John Kerry statement on US intervention in Syria – full text

Remarks by Secretary of State regarding the position of the Obama administration on the use of force in Syria

Kerry says U.S.. States. established for strikes Syria

President Obama spent several days of consultations with Congress and talk with world leaders on the situation in Syria.

President

And last night, we asked everyone in his national security team to consult with congressional leaders and officials of the National Security Committee of Congress. And we were asked to check on what we know about the horrific chemical attack on the outskirts of Damascus last week.

'll tell you, as someone who has spent nearly three decades in Congress, I know that this request is the right way for a president to approach a decision when how and if the use of military force. And it is important to ask the tough questions and get answers before acting hard, not just after.

And I believe, as President Obama does, it is also important to discuss directly with the American people. It is our responsibility to speak with citizens who have entrusted each of us in government and Congress with the responsibility for their safety.

That's why this morning the release of unclassified estimate of our government for what happened in Syria is very important. His conclusions are as clear as they are compelling. I'm not asking you to take my word for it. Read for yourself, everyone, those who listen, all you read for themselves the evidence of thousands of sources, the evidence that is now available to the public.

and read for themselves the verdict of our intelligence community on chemical weapons to attack the Assad regime inflicted on the opposition and the opposition controlled areas or contested in Damascus suburb at dawn on August 21.

Our intelligence community has carefully considered and reviewed the information about the attack. And I'll tell you what has become more aware of the experience of Iraq. We will not repeat this time. Therefore, we have taken unprecedented steps to declassify and make the data accessible to those who may find themselves.

But still, in order to protect sources and methods, some of what we know will be released only to members of Congress, representatives of the American people. This means that there are things we know we can not speak publicly.

So what do we really know that we can talk?

Well, we know that the Assad regime has the largest chemical weapons across the Middle East programs. We know that the regime has used these weapons on several occasions this year, and has been used on a smaller scale, but still used them against his own people, not even close to where the attack took place last Wednesday.

We know that the regime has been established specifically for the suburbs of Damascus eliminate the opposition, and he was frustrated that he failed to do.

that three days before the chemical weapons attack, the Syrian regime staff were on the ground in the area, make preparations.

And we know that the elements of the Syrian regime said to prepare for the attack, put on gas masks and precautions for chemical weapons.

know it's specific instructions.

know where the rockets were launched, and when. We know where they landed, and when. We rockets came only in areas controlled by the regime and went alone in the opposition-controlled or contested areas.

And we know, as the world, just 90 minutes later, all hell broke loose in the media. With our own eyes we saw thousands of reports from 11 different sites in the suburbs of Damascus. And they all inform victims with respiratory difficulties show people with spasms spasms, cough, rapid pulse, foaming at the mouth, loss of consciousness and death. And we know that it was common for Syrians have reported all these horrors.

importantly, we know that the doctors and nurses who cared not informed - not a scratch, not a piece of shrapnel, not a court, not a sound ball. We saw rows of aligned dead in shrouds, white linen immaculate one drop of blood.

Instead of being safe in your bed at home, we saw rows of children lying side by side, lying on the floor of the hospital, all the gas Assad died surrounded by parents and grandparents who had suffered the same fate.

The U.S. government already know that at least 1,429 Syrians have been killed in the attack, including at least 426 children. Even first aid, doctors, nurses and doctors who tried to save him, were victims. We saw shortness of breath, terrified that their lives were in danger.

It is the indiscriminate chemical weapons inconceivable horror. This is what Assad has done to his own people.

know too many disturbing details about the consequences. We know that senior regime was aware of the attack confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime, examined the impact, and was actually afraid that they would be discovered.

know.

And we know what they did after. I personally called the foreign minister of Syria, and said: "If, as you say, your country has nothing to hide then immediately leave unhindered access for United Nations inspectors they have the opportunity to tell their story. "

Instead, for four days, which bombed the area to destroy evidence, black block after bombing a rate four times higher than they were during the last 10 days . And when UN inspectors finally agreed that access - as we know -. Was limited and controlled

In all these things I have listed, in all these things we know - all - the U.S. intelligence community is very confident, very confident. This is common sense. This is a test. These are the facts.

So the main issue is that it is not really what we know. The question is: what are we - collectively - what in the world will do about it

As in previous storms of history met the heinous crimes that were in our power to stop them, we have been warned against the temptation to look the other way. History is full of leaders who have warned against inaction, indifference and, in particular, against the silence when it mattered most.

Our options than ever, had great consequences. And our choice today has major consequences. Never mind that for almost 100 years, in direct response to the absolute horror and inhumanity of the First World War that the civilized world agree that chemical weapons should not be used again. It was the determination of the world then. And that began nearly a century of efforts to create a clear red line for the international community.

• Import
• today, we work as an international community to rid the world of the worst weapons. That is why we have signed agreements like START Treaty, the New START treaty, the Convention on chemical weapons, including more than 180 countries, including Iran, Iraq and Lebanon signed.
• is important for our safety and security of our allies. It is important for Israel. It is important for our close friends Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, who are all just a breeze away from Damascus. It is important for each of them, where the Syrian chemical weapons -. And if it is not controlled can cause even more death and destruction to friends

And we deeply care about credibility and future interests of the United States of America and its allies. It is important because many other countries, including the policy challenged these international standards, they see. They look. They want to see if the United States and our friends what we say.

is directly related to our credibility and if countries continue to believe the United States when he says something. They are looking to see if Syria can get away with it, because maybe they too can bring the world to an increased risk.

Find best price for : --Syria----Kerry----Assad----Obama--

Britain 2013: children of poor families are still left behind

Special Report: t

More than four decades of pioneering, Born to Fail report highlighted the extent of child poverty in the United Kingdom. Since then, despite promises by successive governments, things have only gotten worse. Where now for the next generation?

summer of 1969, the year of the moon landing, the first flight of Concorde and the beginning of the civil war in Northern Ireland. The Beatles on stage a gVirt_NP_NN_NNPS __

latter figure is

Born to Fail?

innovative examination of the experience of children at the end of the tail of the 60 product by the National Bureau for children.

released in 1973 with great fanfare the media, compared to

Time

magazine and had a galvanizing effect politicians. The instigator of Labour, Barbara Castle, was quoted fragments of it in the House of Commons

Born To Fail?

was credited with a formative influence on Gordon Brown, who later will eradicate child poverty by 2020, a key objective of the Labour government.

Fast forward 40 years, many things have changed. Nobody goes to the moon, Concorde flies over. The Beatles and the problems are problems for historians.

But despite the best intentions successive governments, child poverty and inequality continue to blight the lives of millions. And according to the office in a new snapshot of the poor in Britain, in some ways, things are worse than they were.

growing prosperity decades have seen an average increase of housing prices to nearly ? 171,000, but now it is estimated that 3.6 million children live in relative poverty.

The new agency report,

higher expectations

, to be published this week. Commissioner to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the charity, which traverses the same ground as his influential predecessor and comes after a series of missed targets in the fight against child poverty.

Brown goal

2020 proved impossible. An intermediate goal of reducing the number of children living in poverty by a quarter by 2005 was not achieved.

Act 2010, which had the support of all parties and accepted by the ruling coalition,

result of childhood poverty has created a new commitment to reduce the proportion of children living in poverty on less 10% in 2020.

authors report whether these objectives do not go far enough. They ask, "Do we want every child has the same opportunities in life, regardless of the means of their parents it is important to know if the child is so uneven and growth experiences for children are as polarized as one of the world's richest nations? we have higher expectations and aspirations of our children? "

Obviously, politicians agree that the answer to these questions must be yes anger arises. In 2008, David Cameron said that "what we know in our hearts that the creation of a good society for children to grow up in one of the greatest tests of character of a nation."

But the findings of the new report suggests that the UK is a failure of the test and argued that politicians should be more ambitious.

"Far from improving over time, the current situation seems to be better than it was five years ago," the report said.

frontline figures jumping in the report includes claims that:

? The number of children in relative poverty - defined as those living in families with incomes below 60% of median income after housing costs were taken into account in the - increased by 1.5 million since 1969

? A child from a disadvantaged background is still much less likely to succeed in their GCSE 16 in a privileged home.

? Children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to be obese than those living in affluent areas.

? Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to suffer accidental injuries in the home.

? Children living in the most deprived areas are less likely to have access to green spaces and places to play.

These divisions have consequences for the entire structure of society, the agency said. "This creates a" them and us "society more tensions," the report warns.

• "riots of summer 2011 were a warning of the ease with which these constraints can lose control.
"But there are also economic reasons, we should be concerned about this situation for our children.

"We simply can not let a lot of the next generation of the nation to cut adrift, adding that the draft law on the well-being and allow talents desperately need broken ".

The world has changed in recent years between the time the reports were published, and definitions make comparisons problematic.


However, the agency insists that "collected data from official sources," which "provides a reasonable comparison with the results of
Born to Fail ?


nicely, for purposes of comparison, the number of children in the UK - about 13 million -. Has remained virtually unchanged since 1969
Find best price for : --Britain----Born--

Syria: Cameron and Obama move west closer to intervention

British Prime Minister and the President of the United States agree that the alleged chemical attack "requires a response '

David Cameron and Barack Obama to the west near the military intervention in Syria on Saturday as they agreed that the alleged chemical weapons attack last week by the Assad regime had brought the crisis to a new phase that deserved a "serious response".

In a phone call that lasted 40 minutes, the two leaders are understood to have concluded that the regime of Bashar al-Assad was almost certainly responsible for the attack is believed to have killed 1,400 people in Damascus in the middle of last week. Cameron spoke on holiday in Cornwall.

Prime Minister and U.S. President says time is running out for Assad to allow weapons inspectors to the UN in areas where the attack occurred. Government sources said the two leaders agreed that all options must remain open, both to end the suffering of the Syrian people and to understand that the West could not stay as chemical weapons were used against innocent civilians.

A No 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister and President Obama are both very concerned about the attack, which took place in Damascus on Wednesday and growing signs that this was an important chemical weapons attack by the Syrian regime against its own people. Security Council asked the UN immediate access to UN investigators on the ground in Damascus. The fact that President Assad has failed to cooperate with the United Nations suggests that the regime has something to hide.

"reaffirmed that meaningful use of chemical weapons deserve a serious response from the international community and ordered officials to examine all options. Were agreed that it is essential that the world continued ban the use of chemical weapons and deters other outrages. agreed to stay in touch on the subject. "

The dramatic rise of the issues came after the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that three hospitals in Damascus had received approximately 3600 patients with neurotoxic symptoms in less than three hours in the morning of Wednesday, August 21 Of these patients, 355 of them died.

Dr. Bart Janssens, MSF director of operations, said: "The medical staff working in these institutions offered detailed MSF doctors regarding a large number of patients who arrive with symptoms including convulsions, salivation excessive, students point, blurred vision and difficulty breathing. "

said strongly indicate symptoms reported "massive exposure to a nerve agent. This would be a violation of international humanitarian law absolutely prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, said Saturday that "all the information at our disposal converge to indicate the existence of a chemical slaughter near Damascus, and that the [Bashar al- Assad] is responsible. "

Foreign Secretary William Hague said last week that "it is a chemical attack by the Assad regime" and "is not something a civilized world can not ignore. "

Obama has been reluctant to commit U.S. forces for what became a bloody and protracted civil war. However, he said last year that the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line" that caused a robust U.S. response. It was confirmed yesterday that the U.S. Navy has deployed a warship additional missile for the Eastern Mediterranean before a summit to discuss the slaughter.

• The summit will be held in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in the first half of the week as a consensus that harden the sarin nerve agent was used in the rebel attack east of Damascus Thursday morning. Biological samples from the victims of the attack were sent to Western officials in Jordan after being smuggled out of Syria in the last 72 hours. The questionnaires were distributed to officials in the three most affected communities, asking for details and environmentalists, as well as organs and tissues of the clothing worn by the victims.
• officials, who were not identified, but said that this is part of an international response, also have a telephone contact with rebel officers, looking for pictures of rockets that are suspected of driving the gas.

France, Britain and Turkey have accused the Syrian regime for the attack, which came as installed in the military area.

Syria continued to deny any responsibility at the head of the UN disarmament, Angela Kane, arrived in Damascus to try to negotiate access to the site of the attack of a team inspection was sent to investigate three previous alleged attacks. The team was in the capital for six days and was pressing for permission to travel - within walking distance of your hotel

rebel groups in the region say they will ensure safe passage. However, the Syrian government has not accepted and the UN fears that the road is not safe without a negotiated settlement.


The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the Foreign Minister of Syria, Walid al-Moallem on Thursday, the State Department said Saturday. Kerry said the Damascus government should let the UN inspectors have access to the site of the attack to the alleged gas, the department said.

Kerry called to "make clear that if, as they say, the Syrian regime has nothing to hide, would have allowed the immediate and unrestricted access to the polygon rather than continue to attack the zone affected to block access and destruction of evidence, "said a senior State Department.


Find best price for : --Cameron----Walid----John----Angela----Bashar----Assad----Obama--