Great Satan US sends 5th destroyer to eastern Mediterranean

A fifth US Navy destroyer is on its way to the eastern Mediterranean as Washington and its allies are mulling over a possible attack on Syria.

The US has already beefed up its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean. According to media reports, four US warships and a submarine are in the region and a fifth is on the way. All destroyers are cruise-missile equipped.

On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama said Washington has “concluded” that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in an attack near the capital, Damascus, last week.

The Syrian government has categorically rejected the allegations that it had any role in the chemical attack.

Meanwhile, Washington’s conclusion comes before a UN inspector team, which is in Syria at the invitation of Damascus, releases its findings over last week’s deadly chemical weapons attack.

While Obama did not present any evidence to support Washington’s conclusion, he said that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should face “international consequences.”

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has reiterated that the US military is ready to attack Syria should Obama give the green light.

In an interview with The Hill on Tuesday, former outspoken Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich, said Washington’s claims that Damascus has used chemical weapons are just “a pretext,” adding, “The verdict is in before the facts have been gathered.”

Kucinich, who voted against the Iraq war, also said that airstrikes on Syria would turn the US military into “al-Qaeda’s air force.”

A recent poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos has found that about 60 percent of Americans believe the US should not get militarily involved in the Syrian conflict, as opposed to only nine percent who said Washington should act.

On Thursday, Assad said Damascus would defend itself against any aggression and threats would only increase Syria’s “commitment to its principles and its independence.”