In Syria, sarin gas use has been confirmed via testing of hair samples, Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday.
Kerry discussed the situation in Syria and the sarin gas allegations on shows like State of the Union , where he took the case for military action to American audiences.
On Meet The Press, Kerry said that very recent tests confirmed sarin gas suspicions, adding that the intel came from samples taken quite recently:
In the last 24 hours, we have learned through samples that were provided to the United States and that have now been tested from first responders in East Damascus, and hair samples and blood samples have tested positive for signatures of sarin.”
Kerry said the sarin gas samples are a piece of the puzzle in the Syrian conflict, adding on NBC:
“We are saying that the high confidence that the intelligence community has expressed and the case that I laid out the other day is growing stronger by the day… We know where this attack came from. We know exactly where it went. We know what happened exactly afterwards.”
Kerry also noted that President Barack Obama has been working with Congress on next steps in Syria , but that he reserves the right to act in the absence of Congressional approval.
Sarin gas, initially developed as a pesticide, is one of the deadliest and fastest acting chemical weapons known. The gas causes the nervous system to fail, eventually causing the cessation of breathing and death in victims exposed to lethal concentrations of Sarin gas.