By The White House

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

11:17 A.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY: Top of the morning to everyone. I have to thank Cody Keenan, my fellow Irish American, for loaning me his tie. (Laughter.) Because I was a little thrown off — I had corned beef and cabbage on Sunday, and I forgot that today is the day that we are officially celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day here in Washington.

As you know, the President has a bilateral meeting with the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny of Ireland, a meeting with the Northern Ireland delegation. He is attending also the Friends of Ireland luncheon on Capitol Hill, and there is a Saint Patrick’s Day reception in the East Room later today.

I also want to note that, because of those remarks, we need to have a hard stop at 12:00 noon today.

With that, I’ll go to the Associated Press.

Q Thanks, Jay. There are reports out of Damascus by state-run media that rebels have mounted a chemical attack that killed 25 people. The Russian Foreign Ministry is backing up those claims, saying that there also — I'm wondering if — what the administration has on that report.

MR. CARNEY: Jim, as you know, we have been very clear about our concern that as the Assad regime is increasingly beleaguered and finds its escalation of violence through conventional means inadequate, including the barbaric use of Scud missiles against population centers, that it will consider the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people. This is a serious concern.

I am not going to discuss intelligence, but it is important that as fighting in Syria intensifies and the regime becomes more desperate, that the United States and the international community make absolutely clear to Assad that the use of chemical weapons would be totally unacceptable. The President was clear when he said that if Assad and those under his command make the mistake of using chemical weapons or fail to meet their obligations to secure them, then there will be consequences and they will be held accountable.

The international community is united on this issue and the message to the Assad regime has been very clear.

Q Does that mean that you have confirmation that there was indeed a chemical attack, no matter who it came from?

MR. CARNEY: We are looking carefully at the information as it comes in. I’m not going to discuss intelligence processes. All I can tell you is that this is an issue that has been made very clear by the President to be of great concern to us.

Q There were some initial reports that this may have been propaganda. You’re not saying that that is propaganda on the part of the Assad.

MR. CARNEY: Again, I can tell you that we’re looking carefully at allegations of CW use, chemical weapons use. We’re evaluating them, but I have no further assessment to provide …read more
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