WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry says the debate about military strikes against Syria is not about President Barack Obama’s “red line” that weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated.

Instead, Kerry told Congress Tuesday that “this debate is about the world’s red line.” He says it is “a red line that anyone with a conscience ought to draw.”

Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey were dispatched to the Senate to help persuade lawmakers to support a resolution authorizing limited military strikes against Syria following a chemical weapons attack last month outside Damascus that left hundreds dead, including many children.

Kerry said “This is not the time for arm-chair isolationism. This is not the time to be spectators to slaughter.”


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