WASHINGTON (AA) - State Secretary John Kerry testified on Wednesday on military action in Syria in front of a foreign affairs committee along with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey.
Kerry laid down the case for a "targeted and limited" military strike to punish the Syrian government for the gas attack that the US says killed nearly 1,500 people.
"I think the three of us sitting here understand that plea as well as any people in this country. Let me be clear: We are not asking America to go to war," Kerry said.
"The president is asking only for the power to make certain that the United States of America means what we say. He is asking for authorization, targeted and limited to deter and degrade Bashar al-Assad's capacity to use chemical weapons.
"We all agree there will be no American boots on the ground."
General Dempsey put the likely cost of an operation in Syria at "tens of millions of dollars."
Ed Royce who heads Senate's foreign affairs committee, said: "I think we're all troubled by the unfortunate lack of international support. Although the proposed action aims to uphold an international norm, there is no United Nations resolution of support nor NATO backing."
