Kerry doesn’t rule out US military intervention in Syria
28 Feb 2014
US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a TV interview on Wednesday evening that no option is off the table for the United States in dealing with the crisis in Syria, implying that military intervention has not yet been ruled out by the Obama administration despite Congress opposing such a move.
''The president has taken no option off the table, none,'' he said during an interview with NBC. ''And the president has charged me and the rest of the administration on his security team to analyse every single option on an ongoing basis, not something new. He's constantly reviewing this. He is constantly making judgments about what options may or may not be available.''
Kerry said the Assad regime's actions are ''outrageous, unconscionable, unacceptable, disgraceful, craven''.
Asked about the president's past statements that Assad must quit, Kerry said the administration is continuing to ''look at additional options''.
''I think it's a challenge to all of us to figure out how we are going to get more pressure on Assad and on others,'' he said. ''Frankly, Russia is increasing its assistance to Assad. I do not find that constructive in the effort to try to get him to change his mind and be able to come to a decision that he needs to negotiate in good faith.''
(Also see: Kerry slams US 'isolationism', says it is acting like 'poor nation')
