President Obama made clear to Syrian President Bashar Assad and those under his command that "the world is watching" and the use of chemical weapons would be "totally unacceptable." If Syria does try to use those weapons, Obama added, there will be consequences. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
By NBC News wire services
NATO foreign ministers will meet on Tuesday to discuss sending Patriot missiles to beef up Turkey's air defenses, a move that could calm Turkey's fears that it could come under missile attack - possibly with chemical weapons - from Syria.?
Foreign ministers from the 28-nation alliance are expected to give their backing to the move when they meet in Brussels for a twice-yearly meeting, sending a strong signal they stand behind their ally Turkey, diplomats told Reuters.
"There will be a decision and probably a statement from the ministers themselves," one NATO diplomat told reporters.
Turkey asked NATO last month for Patriots, which can be used to intercept missiles and planes, after weeks of talks with allies about how to increase security on its 560-mile border with Syria, which is immersed in civil war.
The move follows media reports, citing European and U.S. officials, that Syria's chemical weapons had been moved and could be prepared for use in response to dramatic gains by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.
Obama warns Syria's Assad not to use chemical weapons
Syria said on Monday it would not use chemical weapons against its own people after the United States warned it could take action against any such escalation.
"Turkey's request, when it came to Patriots, was to augment its air defenses with the capacity to deal with the threat of ballistic missiles and particularly the threat of ballistic missiles potentially armed with chemical warheads," another NATO diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, according to Reuters.
Osman Orsal / Reuters
A look back at the violence that has overtaken the country
Possible deployment weeks away
The diplomat said the ministers would simply agree on Tuesday to "augment Turkey's air defenses."
"The decision on whether or not to deploy Patriots, and for how long is, like all NATO decisions when it comes to the deployment of military forces, a national one," he said.
The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are the countries expected to supply Turkey with Patriots. Germany and the Netherlands may need parliamentary approval to send the missiles and deployment could take weeks.
Report: Syrian rebels clash with Lebanon troops on border
The first diplomat said that NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, had the power to deploy NATO's own fleet of AWACS surveillance planes if he judged it necessary to counter a specific threat and would not need ministerial approval.
However, there is no immediate plan for him to do so in the case of Turkey.
A dramatic report from northern Syria shows how rebels control much of the countryside but remain locked in deadly battle with government forces who have the fire power. Some displaced civilians have taken refuge in the ruins of one of the Dead Cities of Syria, the ancient city Serjilla, abandoned around 1600 AD. NBC's John Irvine reports.
The NATO foreign ministers will take the Patriot decision immediately after they hold talks in Brussels with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is expected to repeat Moscow's opposition to the move.
Russia, which has a fractious relationship with the military alliance, has been at odds with NATO over how to end the Syrian conflict and has vetoed U.N. resolutions aimed at pressuring Assad to step down.
PhotoBlog:?Turkey scrambles jets as Syrian government forces bomb border town
Turkey has repeatedly scrambled jets along the countries' joint border and responded in kind when shells from the conflict came down inside its borders, underlining fears Syria's civil war could spread to destabilize the region.
A senior State Department official accompanying Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Europe for the NATO talks, said he did not expect final details this week on the number of missiles that would be deployed, where or for how long.
He said the deployment would not be part of "an inexorable move towards a no-fly zone" over Syria, of the sort NATO mounted to defend anti-government rebels in Libya who toppled Moammar Gadhafi last year.
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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/04/15668883-nato-to-discuss-sending-patriot-missiles-to-turkey?lite
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