Obama 'changed mind on Syria after gas attack'

Barack Obama has told the world that he did not think force could solve the Syrian civil war, but changed his mind after Bashar Assad’s regime gassed its own people.

The US president used a televised address to the nation to explain his thinking on the fighting in Syria. He said he long resisted calls for military action there but the use of chemical weapons on August 21 shifted his thinking and believed the United States must respond with a military strike to deter their future use.