On August 26 2013 Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the media on the alleged
use of chemical weapons on the Syrian population in Damascus by the Syrian government on August 21, 2013. He reported that President
Obama believes that there must be accountability for those who would do such a thing.
Brackets [ ] indicate where the reversal occurs. Click on the reversal to hear the audio.
We're shouting at the monsters.
There is a reason that the international community
has set a clear standard, and why many countries have taken major steps to eradicate these weapons. There is a reason why President
Obama has made it such a priority to stop the proliferation of these weapons, and lock them down where they do exist. There is a reason
President Obama has made clear to the Assad regime that this [international norm] cannot be violated without consequences.
And there is a reason why no matter what you believe about Syria, all peoples and all nations who believe in the
cause of our common humanity [must stand up to assure that] there is accountability for the use of chemical weapons so that it never
happens again.
The images of entire families dead in their beds [without a drop of blood] or even
a visible wound, bodies contorting in spasms, human suffering that we could never ignore or forget. Anyone who could claim that an
attack of this staggering scale could be contrived, or fabricated, needs to check their conscience and their own moral compass.
President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons
against the world's most vulnerable people. Nothing today is more serious, and nothing is receiving more [serious scrutiny].
