The New York Times noted that "both his tone and his body language indicated that the assessment process would be careful and deliberate." For some months the Obama administration has called the use of chemical weapons by Assad's regime a "red line" that would prompt military intervention. However, claims that chemical weapons have been used have left Western government equivocating over action. As the Guardian noted, "On Thursday the British defense secretary, Philip Hammond, said the west would have to wait for any further chemical attacks to be sure of Syrian government involvement, because previously gathered evidence had begun to degrade and could not prove a link."

Via the New York Times:

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As the number of suspected attacks grows, U.S. officials said intelligence agencies are seeing signs that Syrian opposition forces may be distancing themselves from the al-Qaida-linked group there — chipping away at one of the key arguments against giving lethal aid to the rebels. Yet, at the same time, the fighters associated with the extremist group are among the most effective against the regime. Assad displayed new confidence, going on the offensive in the hopes of taking advantage of ill will against the extremist group.

Officials insisted Wednesday that no decisions have been made but said arming the rebels is seen as more likely and preferable than any other military option. One U.S. official described a new "reconsideration" within the administration of the military options. The officials, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss publicly the options under consideration, said most U.S. leaders prefer that the Syrians determine their own fate, so arming the opposition is more palatable than direct U.S. intervention.

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In a White House news conference, Obama appealed for patience, saying he needs more conclusive evidence about how and when chemical weapons detected by U.S. intelligence agencies were used and who deployed them. If those questions can be answered, Obama said he would consider potential actions the Pentagon and intelligence community have readied for him in the event Syria has crossed his chemical weapons "red line."

"There are options that are available to me that are on the shelf right now that we have not deployed," he told reporters packed into the White House briefing room. Those options include setting up a protective "no-fly zone" over Syria, creating a humanitarian corridor at the Turkish border or providing weapons directly to the rebels.

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On Guantánamo  

Facing questions about the ongoing hunger strike at Guantánamo, Obama said he was "not surprised there are problems," saying that he continues to believe the U.S. should prioritize closing Guantánamo, as it is "not necessary to keep America safe, is expensive, hurts our relationships with allies and is a recruitment tool for extremists."

Obama said he planned to "go back to" his efforts in 2008 to close Guantánamo, saying: "I am going to reengage with Congress to make the case that this is not in the best interest of the American people," calling the detention facility and the indefinite detention of people who have not been tried or charged "contrary to who we are, contrary to our interests, and it needs to stop."

On Syria

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From CBS News:

Still, those following the news about Syria very closely are far more likely to think the U.S. has a responsibility to get involved there. Nearly half (47 percent) of that group thinks the U.S. has a responsibility to get involved there -- though about as many do not (48 percent).

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Although no one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad's regime have increasingly targeted Damascus, the seat of his power. Tuesday's bombing was the second in as many days in the capital, increasingly wracked by violence as Syria's conflict enters its third year.

Damascus residents said they heard a powerful explosion and saw thick, black smoke billowing from behind a group of buildings.

Syrian TV said the explosion was caused by a "terrorist bombing" in the district of Marjeh, a commercial area in central Damascus. Assad's regime refers to opposition fighters as "terrorists."

The target of the attack was not immediately clear, although the explosion took place near the Damascus Tower, a 28-floor office building. The former Interior Ministry building is nearby and was damaged in the blast.

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On Syria:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on CBS' Face The Nation that without some international involvement in Syria, "the whole region's gonna fall into chaos."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., argued that the solution is not sending American troops to Syria, because that would be the “worst thing America could do right now."

“I think that the American people are weary," McCain said on NBC's Meet The Press. "They don’t want boots on the ground. I don’t want boots on the ground."

But Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said we can't rule anything out. "I don't think you want to ever rule it out," she said on Face the Nation. "Obviously, we don't want to do that unless it's absolutely necessary." Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who appeared with McCaskill, disagreed: "I would go even beyond that, I would say no" boots on the ground. "We don't need to put boots on the ground but we need to enable their neighbors, the neighbors of Syria, to bring some sort of peaceful resolution to this."

On the Boston bombings:

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On Thursday, the White House and other top Obama administration officials said that U.S. intelligence had concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its battle against rebels trying to oust Assad.

In the Syrian capital of Damascus, a government official said Assad's military "did not and will not use chemical weapons even if it had them." Instead, he accused opposition forces of using them in a March attack on the village of Khan al-Assal outside of the northern city of Aleppo, the largest in Syria. The official said the Syrian army had no need to use chemical weapons because it can reach any area in Syria it wants without them.

He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.

His comments were echoed by Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian lawmaker, who said the Syrian army "can win the war with traditional weapons" and has no need for chemical weapons.

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Lina Khatib, the Head of the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford University has argued for U.S. intervention. Daniel Serwer, Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, has called for evaluating the issue in a broader context. At 11:15 a.m. ET, they’ll engage in a back-and-forth right here in a real-time Salon. Submit your own thoughts in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to bring you in on the discussion, too.

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The information, which has been known to the administration and some members of Congress for weeks, isn't solid enough to warrant quick U.S. involvement in the 2-year-old conflict, the White House said. Officials said the assessments were made with "varying degrees of confidence" given the difficulty of information gathering in Syria, though there appeared to be little question within the intelligence community.

As recently as Tuesday, when an Israeli general added to the growing chorus that Assad had used chemical weapons, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration was continuing to monitor and investigate but had "not come to the conclusion that there has been that use."

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"It is clear that 'red lines' have been crossed and action must be taken to prevent larger scale use," Feinstein said in a statement. "Syria has the ability to kill tens of thousands with its chemical weapons. The world must come together to prevent this by unified action which results in the secure containment of Syria's significant stockpile of chemical weapons."

Earlier, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., agreed that the use of chemical weapons is a "game-changer," as McCain put it.

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The National Journal reports:

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told reporters they believe the presence of the chemical weapons signals that the Assad regime has crossed the so-called ‘red line’ the administration laid out previously that should dictate increased action by the U.S.

“It is clear that the Syrians have crossed the red line that the president said was a game changer, so it should change the game,” McCain said.

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However, officials also said more definitive proof was needed and the U.S. was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria. That response appeared to be an effort to bide time, given President Barack Obama's repeated public assertions that Syria's use of chemical weapons, or the transfer of its stockpiles to a terrorist group, would cross a "red line."

The White House disclosed the new intelligence Thursday in letters to two senators, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, traveling in Abu Dhabi, also discussed it with reporters.

"Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin," the White House said in its letter, which was signed by Obama's legislative director, Miguel Rodriguez.

Shortly after the letters was made public, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Capitol Hill that there were two instances of chemical weapons use.

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Hagel, speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, said the White House has informed two senators by letter that, within the past day, “our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin.”

“It violates every convention of warfare,” Hagel said.No information was made public on what quantity of chemical weapons might have been used, or when or what casualties might have resulted.President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons would be a “game-changer” in the U.S. position on intervening in the Syrian civil war, and the letter to Congress reiterates that the use or transfer of chemical weapons in Syria is a “red line for the United States.” However, the letter also hints that a broad U.S. response is not imminent.White House legislative director Miguel Rodriguez, who signed the letter, wrote that “because the president takes this issue so seriously, we have an obligation to fully investigate any and all evidence of chemical weapons use within Syria.”

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The assessment, based on visual evidence of alleged attacks, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in the Syrian conflict. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad's government had used chemical weapons. Although the U.S. says it has not been able to verify these claims, President Barack Obama has warned that the introduction of chemical weapons by Assad would be a "game changer."

In his assessment, Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, the head of research and analysis in Israeli military intelligence, told a security conference in Tel Aviv that Assad has used chemical weapons multiple times. Among the incidents were attacks documented by the French and British near Damascus last month.

He cited images of people hurt in the alleged attacks, but gave no indication that he had other evidence, such as soil samples, typically used to verify chemical weapons use.

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Human Rights Watch said Syrian fighter jets have targeted bakeries, bread lines and hospitals in the country's north.

In recent months, parts of northern Syria, especially areas along the border with Turkey, have fallen under the control of rebels, including several neighborhoods of Aleppo, the country's largest city.

"The aim of the airstrikes appears to be to terrorize civilians from the air, particularly in the opposition-controlled areas where they would otherwise be fairly safe from any effects of fighting," Ole Solvang of the New York-based group told The Associated Press.

These attacks are "serious violations of international humanitarian law," and people who commit such breaches are "responsible for war crimes," the New York-based group said.

Solvang led the HRW team that inspected 52 sites in northern Syria and documented what it said were 59 unlawful attacks by the Syrian Air Force. At least 152 people were killed in these attacks, according to a HRW report released Thursday.

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This area may be in Syrian territory that,with the redeployment of regular Syrian army units to Damascus, has become a contested arena for various rebel groups.

Israel and Syria have been in a formal state of war since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. There are no diplomatic ties and no contacts, except through UN offices; it is illegal for Israelis to enter Syria, and Syrians entering Israel are considered enemy infiltrators.

UN peacekeeping forces have safeguarded a demilitarized zone along the generally quiet border since the end of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The last Israeli soldiers known to have been in Syria were returned to Israel in an exchange of POWs following the war.

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The Syrian government claims that the UN has attempted to widen the remit of its mission, which it says was originally intended to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo last month. It says the UN now wants "additional investigations which might allow the UN mission to spread all over the Syrian territories, and this contradicts the Syrian request from the UN and indicates to the presence of hidden intentions at the states which have sought to add those investigations as this constitutes a violation of the Syrian sovereignty".

Syrian state media reported that the government would not allow such "manoeuvres" but would still allow the mission to visit Khan al-Assal in keeping with its original intention

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