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President Barack Obama on Wednesday declared unequivocally that the United States has “concluded” that the Syrian government carried out a large-scale chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of civilians. Yet U.S. intelligence officials say questions remain about whether the attack could be linked to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or high officials in his government.

Obama says the U.S. has examined evidence and doesn’t believe the opposition fighting the Syrian government possessed chemical weapons or the means to deliver them.

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We can take limited, tailored approaches, not getting drawn into a long conflict

While Obama said he is still evaluating possible military retaliation, he said the U.S. won’t become ensnared in the Syrian civil war, now in its third year.

“We can take limited, tailored approaches, not getting drawn into a long conflict, not a repetition of, you know, Iraq, which I know a lot of people are worried about,” he said.

Still, the possibility Assad or his allies in Iran and Hezbollah will respond in unpredictable ways, or that an attack may go awry, also poses a challenge to Obama and U.S. allies.