far. i m not going to discuss this because we re evaluating. syria is a lot more sophisticated than what we did in libya. we are the strongest country in the world. we can coordinate and show leadership with the other countries that are involved. we know that there is a lot of concern from the arab league and countries and they are looking for coordination and leadership and that s something that we can provide. we have the best intelligence in the world and we know how to train people. congressman, let me switch over to the issue of the national security agency, general alexander, head of nsa, has been on capitol hill briefing members of congress. are you satisfied i know you re on the intelligence committee so perhaps you re privy to things that your colleagues are not but do you get a sense that your colleagues are more comfortable with the information that is being shared? the most important thing that we can do is we are going to try to give as much information to the publ
a.k.-47s don t do well against tank. they need anti-tank and anti-air weapons. senator john mccain, thank you so much for joining us here in the situation room. we will continue to follow this breaking news. the u.s. government now acknowledging that syria has used chemical weapons on a small scale but causing between00 to 150 deaths, we are told, by sources. this is that red line that president obama outlined last summer and it has now been crossed officially according to the obama administration. this is . mom always got good nutrition to taste great.
bad as that is, why is this also important? you heard one of the senators there talking about the concern that these chemical weapons as syria implodes, becomes more disorganized, could the chemical weapons wind up in the hands of al qaeda and become a terrorist threat? there is a much deeper, believe it or not, concern as well. iran. in the last several weeks iran has considerably stepped up its power influence and operations inside syria. we talked to people today who tell us there are at least three iranian militia training camps inside syria, perhaps thousands of iranian and hezbollah fighters. why is that so key? as iran extends its influence and looks for more power, more influence in the region, there are economic concerns. this could embolden iran. many people worry in regards to the persian gulf oil shipping
concerned about all of this. the ranking republican member of the senate republican committee talk about it a short time ago. we now know that chemical weapons have been used for almost a year by the syrian regime. we ve done nothing. so i think it s time that we act in a very serious way. if a no-fly zone is what they decided to do, i m sure our military has taken preparations for carrying out a successful operation and i support that. barbara starr, we re going to have you stand by at the pentagon. let s go to the senate floor where senator john mccain is talking about this. it s terrible. ism i applaud the president s decision, i applaud he s acknowledged what we knew, that bashar al assad is using chemical weapons. we ve got to change the equation on the battle ground and if i might say, i have seen and been
president obama s red line in syria has been crossed. the intelligence community has concluded that sarin gas was used by the syrian regime and 150 people have died. the president has decided to provide more support to the rebels, including military assistance. let s go to jessica yellin who is at the white house. ben rhodes just wrapped up a conference call with reporters. what did he have to say? reporter: jim, ben rhodes confirmed that the intelligence community has determined that the use of sarin gas has occurred on multiple occasions, has been deployed by the syrian regime and has killed 100 to 150 people. that this is this has crossed the president s red line and this is changing the president s calculus on syria. the president has decided to