A military strike against Syria is apparently imminent following declarations by the US, British and French governments who blame the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the recent use of chemical weapons against civilians. According to the ‘Reuters’ news agency, Western powers told the Syrian opposition to expect a strike against Assad's forces within days.
"The opposition was told in clear terms that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days, and that they should still prepare for peace talks at Geneva," the agency quoted of the sources who was at a meeting in Istanbul on Monday as saying.
Members of the Syrian opposition reportedly provided Western military authorities with a list of targets to hit.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a television interview with the BBC on Tuesday that the US military was ready to act immediately should President Barack Obama order action against Syria over a chemical weapons attack. "We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take," Hagel said during a trip to Brunei. Asked if the US military was ready to respond just "like that," Hagel said: "We are ready to go, like that."
US allies were drafting plans for air strikes and other military action against Syria on Tuesday, as Assad's enemies vowed to punish a poison gas attack that Washington called a "moral obscenity".
British Prime Minister David Cameron called Parliament back from its summer recess for a session on Syria on Thursday, at which his government will ask for authorization of military force against Syria.
However, Russia and China have voiced strong opposition to any Western intervention, with Moscow saying it would be “catastrophic”.
UN experts trying to establish what killed hundreds of civilians in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus last Wednesday were finally able to cross the frontline on Monday to see survivors - despite being shot at in government-held territory. But they put off a second visit until Wednesday.
The Syrian government, which denies using gas, said it would press on with its offensive against rebels around the capital. Foreign Minister Walid Moualem said US strikes would help the terror network al-Qaeda’s allies, and he called Western leaders "delusional" if they hoped to aid the rebels to create a balance of power in Syria.
In Britain, whose forces have supported the US military in a succession of wars, Cameron called for an appropriate level of retribution for using chemical weapons. "Our forces are making contingency plans," a spokesman for Cameron told reporters. London and its allies would make a "proportionate response" to the "utterly abhorrent" attack.