The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release August 31, 2013
Statement by the President on Syria
Rose Garden
1:52 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. Ten days ago, the world
watched in horror as men, women and children were massacred in Syria in
the worst chemical weapons attack of the 21st century. Yesterday the United
States presented a powerful case that the Syrian government was responsible
for this attack on its own people.
watched in horror as men, women and children were massacred in Syria in
the worst chemical weapons attack of the 21st century. Yesterday the United
States presented a powerful case that the Syrian government was responsible
for this attack on its own people.
Our intelligence shows the Assad regime and its forces preparing to use chemical
weapons, launching rockets in the highly populated suburbs of Damascus, and
acknowledging that a chemical weapons attack took place. And all of this
corroborates what the world can plainly see -- hospitals overflowing with victims;
terrible images of the dead. All told, well over 1,000 people were murdered.
Several hundred of them were children -- young girls and boys gassed to
death by their own government.
weapons, launching rockets in the highly populated suburbs of Damascus, and
acknowledging that a chemical weapons attack took place. And all of this
corroborates what the world can plainly see -- hospitals overflowing with victims;
terrible images of the dead. All told, well over 1,000 people were murdered.
Several hundred of them were children -- young girls and boys gassed to
death by their own government.
This attack is an assault on human dignity. It also presents a serious danger
to our national security. It risks making a mockery of the global prohibition
on the use of chemical weapons. It endangers our friends and our partners
along Syria’s borders, including Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.
It could lead to escalating use of chemical weapons, or their proliferation to
terrorist groups who would do our people harm.
to our national security. It risks making a mockery of the global prohibition
on the use of chemical weapons. It endangers our friends and our partners
along Syria’s borders, including Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.
It could lead to escalating use of chemical weapons, or their proliferation to
terrorist groups who would do our people harm.
In a world with many dangers, this menace must be confronted.
