US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about the situation in Syria at the State Department in Washington yesterday. Kerry made a broad case for limited US military action against Syria for its suspected use of chemical weapons, saying it could not go unpunished for such a “crime against humanity.” Photo: Charles Dharapaks/AP

US Secretary of State John Kerry made clear yesterday that the United States would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the “brutal and flagrant” chemical weapons attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week.

Kerry said it was essential not to let Syria get away with the attack, partly as a sign to those who might consider using chemical weapons in the future. He said the US was joined by allies including France, “our oldest ally,” in its determination to act.

“It matters here if nothing is done,” Kerry said in a statement delivered at the State Department.

He said that if a “thug and a murderer like Bashar al-Assad can gas thousands of his own people with impunity,” it would be an example to others, such as, he said, Iran, Hizbollah and North Korea.

“Will they remember that the Assad regime was stopped from those weapons’ current or future use? Or will they remember that the world stood aside and created impunity?” Kerry said.

Kerry laid out a raft of evidence he said showed Assad’s forces were behind the attack, and the US government released an unclassified intelligence report at the same time including many of the details. The report said the August 21 attack killed 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426 children.

France said yesterday it still backed military action to punish Assad’s government for the attack despite a British parliamentary vote against a military strike.

Kerry said the UN inspectors’ report would only confirm that chemical weapons were used, and this would not change much for Washington since “guaranteed Russian obstructionism” would make it impossible for the UN to galvanize world action.

“The primary question is really no longer, what do we know. The question is, what are we – we collectively – what are we in the world going to do about it,” Kerry said.

He said the US President had been clear that any action would be “limited and tailored” to punishing Assad, that it would not be intended to affect the civil war there. Kerry made clear Washington would not be swayed from acting either by the opinions of other states.