Pentagon: ‘active preparations’ by Syria for chemical attack

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Tuesday said it detected “active preparations” by Syria for a chemical weapons attack, giving weight to a White House statement hours earlier that the Syrian government would “pay a heavy price” if it carried out such an attack.
The U.S. accusation and ominous warning marked a further escalation of tensions in a country where the U.S. is using Syria Arab and Kurdish proxy soldiers to combat the Islamic State group in its remaining s