The U.S. is making "initial preparations" for a cruise missile attack on Syrian Government Forces amid reports that they have employed the use of chemical weapons, CBS News reported on Friday night.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel confirmed on Friday the president has asked the Pentagon to prepare military options, some of which "requires repositioning our forces," however, would not go into details about what that might entail.
U.S. Navy ships are capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, as they did in 2011 to help overthrow the Libyan government, according to the Associated Press (AP).
In this picture made available by the U.S. Navy, Wednesday, March 30, 2011, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) launches a Tomahawk cruise missile from the ships bow, off the Libyan coast, Tuesday, March 29, 2011. Barry is currently supporting Joint Task Force (JTF) Odyssey Dawn. (AP)
On Saturday, President Obama is meeting with his national security team to determine the next steps the U.S. will take.
According to the AP, the White House is still seeking to confirm whether or not Syria used chemical weapons. Officials say once the facts are made clear, Obama will make a decision on how the U.S. will respond.
An attack on the Damascus suburbs killing hundreds is "looking more and more like a poison gas was used," according to CBS News.
The U.S. also reportedly detected activity at Syrian chemical weapons sites before the attack.
Susan Rice, president Obama's national security advisor, said the attack was "an apparent CW [chemical weapons] attack" on Friday.
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/AmbassadorRice/status/371024011267821568"]
The U.N. disarmament chief has arrived in Damascus to pressure President Bashar Assad to allow experts to allow investigate the attack.
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