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11 Sep 2013
Obama opts for diplomacy in Syria
FXstreet.com (Lisbon) - Yesterday, President Barack Obama pledged to explore a diplomatic plan from Russia to take away Syria's chemical weapons, though ultimately voiced skepticism about it and urged Americans to support his threat to use military force on an as-needed basis.
Faced with staunch resistance in both the polls and Congress to the use of force against Syria, Obama stated a Russian offer to pressure President Bashar al-Assad to place his government's chemical weapons under international control had heightened the chances of putting off the limited military strike that he is considering. "Over the last few days, we've seen some encouraging signs," Obama said in televised speech from the White House that attempted to offer a clear case for why it is in Americans' interests to intervene in Syria's civil war.
Obama asked leaders in Congress to put off a vote on his request to authorize the use of military force to let diplomacy play out. He said U.S. Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean and other forces in the region are in place and ready to respond should diplomacy fail. The Russian initiative gave Obama some breathing space since it has been far from certain whether he would win a vote in Congress on attacking Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack last month that Washington has blamed on Assad's forces.
In a fairly short speech, Obama gave perhaps the most coherent expression of his Syria policy to date following weeks of muddled messages by his administration as opposition to a U.S. military strike mounted. "If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons," said Obama. "As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them."
Faced with staunch resistance in both the polls and Congress to the use of force against Syria, Obama stated a Russian offer to pressure President Bashar al-Assad to place his government's chemical weapons under international control had heightened the chances of putting off the limited military strike that he is considering. "Over the last few days, we've seen some encouraging signs," Obama said in televised speech from the White House that attempted to offer a clear case for why it is in Americans' interests to intervene in Syria's civil war.
Obama asked leaders in Congress to put off a vote on his request to authorize the use of military force to let diplomacy play out. He said U.S. Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean and other forces in the region are in place and ready to respond should diplomacy fail. The Russian initiative gave Obama some breathing space since it has been far from certain whether he would win a vote in Congress on attacking Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack last month that Washington has blamed on Assad's forces.
In a fairly short speech, Obama gave perhaps the most coherent expression of his Syria policy to date following weeks of muddled messages by his administration as opposition to a U.S. military strike mounted. "If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons," said Obama. "As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them."