U.S. looking at limited strike on Syria

(Updated) U.S. president Barack Obama could be the first American leader in three decades to launch an attack on a foreign country without international support. As the states step up their military rhetoric, UN inspectors wrap up their chemical weapons investigation in Syria.

Obama says he still hasn’t made a decision yet and his military team is looking at a wide range of options, but he’s ready to launch an attack at a moment’s notice.

Four U.S. navy ships are in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Syria waiting for the order to launch. They’re armed with dozens of cruise missiles, which have a range of about one thousand nautical miles.

Obama is still seeking international support for a military strike against the Assad regime.

Not since former president Ronald Reagan ordered an invasion of the Caribbean island of Grenada in 1983 has America been so alone in pursuing major lethal military action.

Meanwhile, at a news conference to release a U.S. intelligence report on Syria, secretary of state John Kerry said the states has no doubt the Syrian regime used chemical weapons against civilians.

“We know that the Assad regime has the largest chemical weapons program. We know that the regime has used those weapons multiple times this year and has used them on a smaller scale but still has used them against its own people… it was frustrated in not having succeeded in doing so.”

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict began in March 2011. The conflict has reportedly produced at least 1.7 million refugees.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story mentioned a report co-written by the Associated Press’ Dale Gavlak, which claimed that Syria rebels admitted they were responsible for the alleged chemical attack, and alleging that a Saudi prince provided rebels with the weapons. This report has not been verified nor widely distributed by other media and therefore CHCH News has excised it from its reporting.