Related News
Obama allows more time for diplomacy to work in Syria
Print Edition
US President Barack Obama, after a feverish campaign to win over Congress and the American people for military strikes against Syria, said he would give diplomacy more time to rid the country of the chemical weapons Washington says were used to kill more than 1,400 people. Obama did not say how long he would wait.
While stepping back from what looked to be certain defeat in his bid for congressional support for a strike against President Bashar Assad’s military, Obama still spent most of his 16-minute White House address to the nation on Tuesday night making the case for strikes as a deterrent to further use of chemical weapons and a warning to other countries tempted to use them.
“The images from this massacre are sickening. Men, women, and children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at mouth, gasping for breath, a father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk,” Obama said.
Yet, he said, he would give a diplomatic proposal by Russia a try.
Earlier in the day, Syria’s foreign minister said his government was ready to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile in line with the proposal in order “to thwart US aggression.”
Polls show a majority of Americans want nothing more to do with US military involvement in the Middle East after the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments,” Obama said. “But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force.”
The diplomatic deal that is under discussion, with Assad’s agreement, would put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control for destruction. Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry to Geneva to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today to work out details.
Obama said he has ordered the military to remain prepared to carry out attacks if needed. Addressing criticism over his own promise of limited strikes, Obama said: “Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver.”
Obama blamed the chemical attack on Assad and warned that a failure to act would encourage tyrants and terrorists to use similar weapons.
“Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria, along with our leadership of a world where we seek to ensure that the worst weapons will never be used,” he said.
A major challenge remains. Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded the US pledge not to use military force in the future.
That is a demand that will not be met, Obama said.
“If diplomacy now fails and the United States fails to act, “the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons,” he said. Over time, they could threaten US troops as well as allies in the region such as Turkey, Jordan and Israel.
At the same time, Obama said the US and its allies would work with Russia and China to present a resolution to the United Nations Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them.
Russia has blocked US attempts to rally the UN Security Council behind a military strike.
Syria has refused to provide an accounting of the size of its chemical weapons stockpile, rarely referring in public to its existence.
According to a French government estimate, it includes more than 1,000 tons of “chemical agents and precursor chemicals,” including sulfur mustard, VX and sarin gas.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
