US President Barack Obama is pushing ahead with plans for a possible air strike against Syria, even though Britain has pulled out of any retaliation for a chemical weapon attack that killed 355 civilians east of Damascus.

President Obama is scheduled to meet with Congressional leaders and present the case for military intervention. Administration officials say that the intelligence will show that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad carried out the chemical weapons attack on 21 August.

The basis will be:  Safeguarding international standards against the use of chemical weapons; And on the threat to America’s assets and allies in the region, including Turkey and Israel, if Syria’s chemical weapons fell into the wrong hands.

Administration officials keep saying that no final decision on the use of force against Syria has been made.  But warships are already poised outside Syria, and missile batteries have been in place in Jordan and Turkey for a while.  The United Nations Weapons Inspectors are leaving Syria on Saturday, and missile strikes could start anytime after that.