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While Syria is blaming rebel fighters for a weekend massacre inHoula, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says he doesn't see the U.S.taking military action without the backing of the U.N. SecurityCouncil. Panetta says his greatest responsibility is to make sure that ifU.S. troops are deployed in any military role, that America has thesupport it needs from the international community. His comments Thursday came a day after Susan Rice, the U.S.ambassador to the United Nations, suggested that some type ofmilitary intervention may be the only remaining option becausediplomatic efforts so far have failed to remove Syrian PresidentBashar Assad from power. "No, I cannot envision that," Panetta said when asked aboutmilitary action without U.N. backing. Still he said that alloptions remain on the table and that the Pentagon is planning for"any contingency." "But, ultimately, you know, the international community and thepresident of the United States are going to have to decide whatsteps to take," Panetta told reporters traveling with him to theShangri-La Dialogue, a prominent defense conference in Singapore. While he called the tumult in Syria an intolerable situation, hiscomments were more measured than other U.S. leaders Thursday,including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lashed outat Russia for continuing its support of Assad. Russia opposes military intervention in the country. Syria on Thursday blamed up to 800 rebel fighters for the massacrein central Syria last week that killed more than 100 people, nearlyhalf of them children, in its most comprehensive explanation todate of the bloodshed. The narrative starkly contradicted accounts of witnesses who blamed"shabiha" or the shadowy gunmen who operate on behalf of PresidentBashar Assad's regime. The U.N. also said it had strong suspicionsthose pro-regime gunmen were responsible for much of the carnage onFriday in a cluster of villages known as Houla. Rice dismissed the Syrian investigation's conclusion as "anotherblatant lie," telling reporters in New York "there is no factualevidence ... that would substantiate that rendition of events." Facing international outrage over the killings, Damascus launchedits own investigation into the deaths and announced that specialprayers for the victims would be held at mosques across the countryon Friday. The U.N. chief warned of civil war and pleaded with theregime to stop its attacks. At a news conference Thursday, Qassem Jamal Suleiman, who headedthe government's investigation into the massacre, categoricallydenied any regime role. He said hundreds of rebel gunmen carriedout the slaughter after launching a coordinated attack on fivesecurity checkpoints. The aim, he said, was to frame the government and to ignitesectarian strife in Syria. "Government forces did not enter the area where the massacreoccurred, not before the massacre and not after it," he said,adding that the victims were families who refused to oppose thegovernment or carry arms. A Houla-based opposition activist said it was clear that there hadbeen no government investigation. "The regime is looking for ways to justify the massacre to theworld," said Saria al-Houlany. "It's clear that there wasn't anyprofessional probe. ... If we had 800 fighters in Houla, thismassacre would not have happened," he said. The Houla massacre was one of the deadliest incidents since theuprising against Assad's hardline regime started in March lastyear. Activists say about 13,000 have been killed in 15 months. The area is still under attack. The government focused its shellingThursday on the Houla village of al-Tibeh. The activist groupSyrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that some residentsfled to nearby towns and villages "fearing a new massacre" as thearea again came under fire. Persistent bloodshed despite a cease-fire agreement has raisedpressure on the international community to act. Nearly 300 U.N. observers have been deployed around Syria tomonitor a cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect on April12 as part of a peace plan negotiated by international envoy KofiAnnan. But the plan has unraveled amid daily visit and the imagesfrom the Houla massacre caused outrage to spike. The Associated Press contributed to this report . We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Clutch Friction Disc , Slip Clutch Disc Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Oil Seal Viton.
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