President Barack Obama sought to explain to Americans in a prime time address Tuesday night why the U.S. must respond to a reported chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime.
“If fighting spills beyond Syria’s borders these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan and Israel,” Obama said at the White House. “And a failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction and embolden Assad’s ally Iran which must decide whether to ignore international law by building a nuclear weapon or to take a more peaceful path.”
He added: “This is not a world we should accept. This is what is at stake. And that is why after careful deliberation, I determined that it is in the national security interests of the united states to respond to the assad regime use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike.”
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