Men sprawled on a tile floor, shirtless and convulsing. Children,
too, seemingly unable to control their shaking and flailing. Panic and
screams in the background.
These are some of the
hard-to-stomach images that the Obama administration has shown a select
group of senators in closed-door briefings to make the case that a
limited military attack on Syria is justified.
CNN was the first to
obtain the 13 different videos seen by members of the Senate
Intelligence Committee that depict the gruesome scene of an chemical
weapons attack in Syria on August 21. The administration told senators
that their authenticity was verified by the intelligence community.
The attack, allegedly
carried out by Syrian forces under President Bashar al-Assad, has
touched off the most critical foreign policy question since the uprising
began in 2011: Is a military response merited?
The videos capture a
moment of panic, as those who are standing try to feed water to those
who appear incapacitated. Prayers are repeated.
Many of the videos were
previously posted on YouTube, but this collection of footage is
significant because the intelligence community has given it a stamp of
authenticity.
The footage could be
vital in the administration's quest to convince Congress and the
American public that the U.S. must launch punitive strikes against
Syria, former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson said.
"That video will
sensitize the American people that this isn't just an intervention, that
this is a military strike to stop that type of atrocity," the former
congressman told CNN.
While the videos are
hard to watch, they do not prove who is responsible for the attack, nor
do they provide an answer for whether military strikes are the correct
course.
President Barack Obama
favors limited intervention, and his administration has been working
nonstop to convince allies in Europe and lawmakers back home for
support.
Hours after CNN obtained
and broadcast portions of the videos, the Senate Intelligence Committee
posted them on its website for public viewing.
An aide to Dianne
Feinstein, the committee's chairwoman, said it's expected the video will
be played Monday at a briefing for all House members. Secretary of
State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and National Security
Adviser Susan Rice will be among those representing the Obama
administration at that hearing and one Wednesday for senators, according
to the White House.
Based on her attendance
at closed-door briefings, Feinstein has decided to vote in favor of the
measure to intervene militarily in Syria, defying the wishes of many of
her constituents.
"What's coming in is
overwhelmingly negative," Feinstein said Thursday about the feedback
from voters. "There's no question about that. But you see, then they
don't know what I know."
The availability of
these videos obtained by CNN means that anyone can see at least part of
the administration's evidence and come to their own conclusions.
One video shows a room
with enough children to fill a classroom, but they are arranged on the
ground, the bright colors of their shirts -- red, yellow, green, purple,
blue -- contrasting the paleness of their dead bodies. There were dead
adults placed in this space, too. The video captures at least six rows
of adults with no less than four bodies each.
Sheets and blankets cover some of the bodies.
In another video, a man
uses a manual resuscitator on a toddler, who appears motionless. Another
man comes with a bottled water and the men together try to rinse the
small boy's face. It looks like the boy's chest moves, but his arms
remain pinned to his side like a soldier at attention.
CNN cannot independently
confirm the authenticity of the videos. But officials have a number of
reasons as to why they believe they are authentic.
The videos were shot
from multiple angles, providing overlap, not just in what could be seen
but what could be heard, the administration officials told the senators.
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