WASHINGTON
The White House reached out to United States (US) lawmakers, with the president's top aides briefing congressional leaders in a 90 minute conference call, related to US' possible intervention in Syria due to the chemical weapon attack in the Middle East country.
"The opinions of the Congrees have importance in President Obama's decision-making process and we will continue to be consulted with the members of Congress in deciding the appropriate reply against the Syrian regime for the use of chemical weapons and for violating international norms," said the White House in a statement.
The meeting was attended by names such as National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
US blames Syria for "spoliation of evidence"
Meanwhile, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said on Thursday that the "Syrian regime destroyed evidence in a systematic way."
Reminding that US did not take an exact decision on Syria, Harf said "They've made the security situation on the ground much more difficult for the UN investigative team. So their claims that they just need more time just have absolutely no credibility. Syrian regime destroyed evidence in a systematic way."
Iraq and Syria are "completely different"
Harf also said that the chemical weapons allegations in Iraq that led to the 2003 war were "completely different" to the circumstances in Syria today.
Obviously, as we all know, in Iraq, the US was trying to prove the existence of weapons of mass destruction, said Harf.
"In Syria, we know that chemical weapons not only exist, but that three months ago that they had been used, and we've said, based on public and other information, that they were used on August 21. So that's not in question. That's undeniable."
"Iraq and Syria are in no way analogous; we're not considering analogous responses, clearly, in any way," she added.
"So I would really caution people against using both the language that people used in the Iraq intelligence assessment, but also making any kind of intellectual comparisons, because they just don't exist."
Harf also reaffirmed President Barack Obama's comments from Wednesday, saying "the Syrian regime is the only one with the capability to use chemical weapons with this delivery system."
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