Pentagon: 'Active preparations' by Syria for chemical attack

The Pentagon said Tuesday it has detected "active preparations" by Syria for a chemical weapons attack, giving weight to a White House threat 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 Syrian Arab and Kurdish proxy soldiers to combat the Islamic State group in its remaining strongholds, even as Russia and Iran work to support President Ba