Obama Cautions Syria Over Chemical Weapons

Sabers. Rattling.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday to hold Syria to account if it used chemical weapons and reassured Israel of U.S. resolve against Iran as he tried to allay the security fears of the main U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Obama, visiting Israel for the first time as president and seeking to bolster his image among Israelis, said he had asked for an investigation to determine if chemical weapons had been unleashed in Syria as has been alleged.

Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has had rocky relations, Obama expressed skepticism that Syrian rebels had launched chemical weapons and said there would be retaliation if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used them.