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US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel : “the U.S. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin… We cannot confirm the origin of these weapons, but we do believe that any use of chemical weapons in Syria would very likely have been originated with the Assad regime…the president has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons or the transfer of such weapons to terrorist groups would be unacceptable.  The United States has an obligation to fully investigate, including with all key partners and allies and through the United Nations, evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria”

(source: defense.gov)