John Kerry: 1,429 People Killed in Syria Chemical Attack

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By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2013-08-30 18:12:33 UTC

The U.S. Secretary of state John Kerry said that the U.S. government estimates that 1,429 people, including 426 children, were killed in the suspected chemical attack on Damascus on Aug. 21.

"This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own people," Kerry said at a press conference on Friday early afternoon, embedded above.

See also: War in Syria: Interactive Map Outlines Major Battle Zones

Kerry's words, which came short of announcing any kind military intervention, were accompanied by a U.S. government intelligence assessment with findings on the suspected chemical weapons attack.

For Kerry, there is no doubt the regime used chemical weapons on Aug. 21, and there is no doubt it was the Assad regime who ordered it, despite some reports indicating the attack might not have been odered by Assad himself.

"The American intelligence community has high confidence [...] This is common sense. This is evidence. These are facts," he said. "So, the primary question is really no longer what do we know, the question is what are we collectively, what are we in the world going to do about it."

Kerry didn't announce any specific course of action, but did hint that the United States is going to move forward with a military "response," that will come regardless of what the UN will establish in its inspection.

The U.S. government decision will not depend on the results of the UN investigation because even though the U.S. "believes" in the UN, and has "great respect" for its inspectors, "the UN can't tell us anything that we haven't shared with you this afternoon, or that we don't already know," Kerry said.

Kerry explained that the U.S. has gathered "overwhelming" evidence of the attack, including regime chemical weapons teams preparing the attack on the ground, warning regime soldiers to wear gas masks. The U.S. is also aware of where and when the missiles were shot.

"Thirty minutes later, all hell broke loose in social media," Kerry said, alluding to hundreds of videos that show evidence of a chemical attack.

The White House assessment goes more into detail of the evidence gathered on social media.

We have identified one hundred videos attributed to the attack, many of which show large numbers of bodies exhibiting physical signs consistent with, but not unique to, nerve agent exposure. The reported symptoms of victims included unconsciousness, foaming from the nose and mouth, constricted pupils, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing. Several of the videos show what appear to be numerous fatalities with no visible injuries, which is consistent with death from chemical weapons, and inconsistent with death from small-arms, high-explosive munitions or blister agents. At least 12 locations are portrayed in the publicly available videos, and a sampling of those videos confirmed that some were shot at the general times and locations described in the footage.

We assess the Syrian opposition does not have the capability to fabricate all of the videos, physical symptoms verified by medical personnel and NGOs, and other information associated with this chemical attack.

Kerry said that the risk of doing nothing was to let Bashar Al-Assad, "a thug, and a murderer," get away with it, get away with gassing "thousands of his own people with impunity."

"In an increasingly complicated world of sectarian and religious extremist violence, what we choose to do, or not do matters in real ways to our own security," he added. "Some cite the risk of doing things, but we need to ask: what is the risk of doing nothing?”

Image: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Topics: Bashar Al-Assad, john kerry, Politics, Syria, U.S., US & World, World