U.S. and France prepare to act on Syria despite UK no vote
(Reuters) - France said on Friday it still backed military action to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for an apparent poison gas attack on civilians and Washington pushed ahead with plans for a response despite a British parliamentary vote against a military strike.
An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a close Assad ally, seized on Thursday's British "no" vote which set back U.S.-led efforts to intervene against Assad, saying it reflected wider European worries about the dangers of a military response.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said his country would keep seeking an international coalition to act together on Syria, where hundreds of people were killed in last week's reported chemical attacks. Syria denies using chemical weapons and says rebels perpetrated the attacks.
"It is the goal of President (Barack) Obama and our government ... whatever decision is taken, that it be an international collaboration and effort," he said.
The White House said it would release later on Friday an unclassified version of an intelligence assessment of an alleged chemical weapons attack last week in Syria, a U.S. official said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/30/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE97K0EL20130830
Forget about Poland.
Here we go again. It is a done deal.
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