..
Update 12:44 p.m. Obama: 'We're not considering a boots-on-the-ground approach'

Edging toward a retaliatory strike, President Barack Obama said Friday he is weighing "limited and narrow" action against Syria as the administration bluntly accused Bashar Assad's government of launching a chemical weapons attack that killed at least 1,429 people — far more than previous estimates — including more than 400 children.

"We're not considering a boots-on-the-ground approach," Obama said, seeking to reassure a public weary after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With France as his only major ally, Obama told reporters he has a strong preference for multilateral action but "we don't want the world to be paralyzed."

Halfway around the world, U.S. warships were in place to deliver a punishing blow.

At the same time, U.N. personnel carried out a fourth day of inspection as they sought to determine precisely what happened in the attack last week. The international contingent arranged to depart Syria on Saturday and head to laboratories in Europe with the samples they have collected.

[link to www.scpr.org]