Obama to Assad: U.S. would act if chemical weapons used
WASHINGTON/BEIRUT, Aug 20 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that U.S. forces could move against him, notably if he deployed his chemical weapons against rebels trying to overthrow him.
In some of his strongest language yet on Syria, on a day when U.N. observers pulled out after a fruitless bid for peace and Assad's forces mounted new attacks, the U.S. leader said Assad faced "enormous consequences" if he crossed a "red line" of even moving unconventional weapons in a threatening manner.
Seeking re-election in November, Obama noted that he had refrained "at this point" from ordering U.S. military engagement in Syria. But when he was asked at a news conference whether he might deploy U.S. forces, possibly to secure Syrian chemical and biological weapons, he said he could change his view.
"We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilised," Obama said. "That would change my calculus."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/20/syria-crisis-idUSL6E8JKBKY20120820