Obama sat down with PBS senior correspondents Gwen Ifill (center) and Judy Woodruff (right).
The U.S, as well as the U.K., seem to have backed down from an immediate attack on Syria following the news that the Syrian government carried out a deadly chemical attack on civilians last week, reports The Washington Post.
President Barack Obama said he has not yet decided how he will respond, but has concluded that Assad’s regime is behind the attacks and that there needs to be “international consequenses.”
“We have not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place,” Obama told the PBS News Hour in an interview. “Hardly anybody disputes that chemical weapons were used on a large scale in Syria against civilian populations.”
The Syrian president denied a role in the attacks and suggested anti-government rebels carried them out to frame him. President Assad, however, said Syria will defend itself against any aggression.
“Threats to launch a direct aggression against Syria will make it more adherent to its well-established principles and sovereign decisions stemming from the will of its people, and Syria will defend itself against any aggression,” Assad said.
