Obama Says World 'Cannot Be Silent' on Syria, International Community's Credibility 'at Stake'

W300

U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday urged world support for punitive strikes against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons, while Damascus vowed retaliation and resistance even if a third world war erupts.

Obama, fresh from efforts in Washington to secure bipartisan support for military intervention, said in Stockholm that the world had set "a red line" for Syria and it could not now remain silent in the face of the regime's alleged use of chemical weapons.

"I didn't set a red line. The world set a red line," Obama said, referring to international rules banning the use of chemical weapons, even in case of war.

"My credibility is not on the line," Obama said in remarks after arriving in Sweden for a two-day visit.

"The international community's credibility is on the line and America and Congress's credibility is on the line because we give lip service to the notion that these international norms are important," he said.

Obama's trip will also take him to the G20 summit in Russia's Saint Petersburg, where he is expected to rally support for, or at least acceptance of, moves to punish Syria's President Bashar Assad for an alleged deadly gas attack in Damascus suburbs last month.

White House officials have said Obama will hold meetings on the sidelines of G20 with the president of France, the main foreign backer of a strike on Syria, as well as the leaders of China and Japan.

While no formal bilateral meeting is planned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strong supporter of Assad, a White House official suggested there likely would be some kind of dialogue.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad, in an exclusive interview with Agence France Presse, said his government was ready to retaliate in the event of a military strike.

"The Syrian government will not change position even if there is World War III. No Syrian can sacrifice the independence of his country," Muqdad said.

Muqdad stressed that Moscow had not wavered in its support of Damascus.

"The Russian position is unchanged; it's a responsible position of a friend that is in favor of peace," he said.

In later comments at a Kremlin meeting, Putin appeared to corroborate this, warning the U.S. Congress that it would be legitimizing an "aggression" if it gave its blessing to military action in a vote expected next week.

Obama said in Stockholm that he hoped Putin would change direction on a military intervention in Syria.

"I'm always hopeful... Ultimately, we can end deaths much more rapidly if Russia takes a different approach to these problems," he said.

Since British lawmakers voted down a bid to take any military action against Assad's regime, Washington has found a strong partner in France but is seeking other allies.

France has vowed to "punish" Assad and this week released an intelligence report pinning the blame for the chemical attack on the regime.

The issue was being debated Wednesday by the French parliament in what is expected to be a fiery session, as pressure mounts on President Francois Hollande to follow Washington's lead and put the matter to a vote.

Hollande is under no obligation to obtain parliamentary approval for action but, with public opinion deeply skeptical of military strikes, many lawmakers are clamoring for a vote.

In Washington, top administration leaders were to keep up an offensive to win congressional support for military strikes against Syria.

On Tuesday, after a passionate plea by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry not to succumb to "armchair isolationism," lawmakers in Washington drafted a bipartisan measure imposing a 90-day deadline for any U.S. military intervention.

It would also ban the deployment of any U.S. troops on the ground in Syria, where fighting, now in its third year, has claimed more than 110,000 lives.

Obama has deferred any military action in Syria, seeking Congressional approval at a vote scheduled for September 9.

The U.S. Senate committee, after a nearly four-hour hearing, re-worded the resolution put forward by the White House to restrict it to "limited and tailored" use of the United States Armed Forces against Syria, according to a copy of the draft obtained by AFP.

SourceNaharnet
Comments 14
Thumb bustany over 10 years

Those responsible should held accountable. Period. No guessing game. Check with real evidence who is responsible

Thumb bustany over 10 years

Those responsible should held accountable. Period. No guessing game. Check with real evidence who is responsible

Thumb Roaring-FlameThrower over 10 years

LOL @ Obama:)))) The Islamic Iranian Resistance aka HA (Hussain Army) and its surrogate the Syrian Arab Army have taken all necessary measures to inflict the deadliest punitive damages on U.S forces and fleets in the Med and beyond and further than beyond. The day you dream of attacking the Land of Sham, WWIII will start. We the Shia of Ali Ibn Taleb will fight you and defeat in every corner, in every road, in every house, and in every Hussainiyeh. Mazloum Karbala Mazloum!!!

Default-user-icon Omar the Great (Guest) over 10 years

The EVIL which is growing day bya day bigger,has spoken and they would like WWIII....insanity of the followers of the EVIL has become to dangerous and they need to be woken up and sent where they belong,straight to the flames of hell.

Thumb Machia over 10 years

The day the great army of Iran will move, the world will crawl. The bearded ones of Teheran and Dahieh will stand atop the mountain and direct their fingers at the enemy and the all mighty will strike them.
Washington DC shall kneel and the new dawn of Shiadom will prevail the earth. All impure thoughts will be purged and the bearded ones shall rule the kingdom of Khom from 1000 years.

Default-user-icon Kharbouj Zoughanji (Guest) over 10 years

Let the UN show us the evidence (there is none, otherwise it would have been made public), or shut the hell up.

Thumb shab over 10 years

Get on with it!

Thumb Machia over 10 years

Can you please send Assad a personally tailored Tomahawk. Asma Assad would really appreciate it.
Assad, you piece of shit, you and your father bombed our youth away in Lebanon. Time to taste some of your medicine.

Thumb Machia over 10 years

I was a kid at school when Syrian bombs rained on my head. And btw when the Israelis invaded Lebanon, the happiest people were the Southerners. (remember the rice that was thrown on the Israeli tanks...)
The PLO destroyed our country, the same way Hezbollah is today.

Thumb Machia over 10 years

Without the "hated american empire" you wouldn't be able to vent your idiocy on the internet.
What your really need is to spend a few years in downtown Teheran to learn the meaning of elections and freedom.

Thumb Machia over 10 years

I bet you eat american, drink american, smoke american, listen to american music, you write american, you are using an american invention to write your words...nothing Iranian here...
Those bearded idiots spend their time hating...

Default-user-icon JC Williams (Guest) over 10 years

Obama was already going to be a do nothing President because he has lost all support in the House Of Representatives. Now he is asking to lose the support of the American people who clearly do not favor intervention. America is already broke and running on QE3. This was a stupid policy choice. Republicans and Liberal Democrats in the House would be stupid to approve this and give their opponents the hammer in next years' elections. It is clearly against the Will of the American People. Obama looks to be our Nation's earliest and lamest duck unless he gets his own war. News at 11.

Default-user-icon Truedemocracy (Guest) over 10 years

Who the heck are you to decide what world can or cannot do?

You know very well that your tomahawks will kill thousands of people, and you learned from your previous presidents that U.S. presidents can kill millions and never be held accountable. So, good job Mr. President and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

You want to hold Assad accountable for 1300 deaths? God will hold you accountable for the thousands that you will end up killing. Your judgement will be much much worse.

Thumb Machia over 10 years

bigjohn, there is no white man anymore! there are human beings that are living in more efficient countries with a higher level of education than others (US, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Europe, etc.). It does not matter if you are black, white, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Jain or agnostic.
You live in another era when anti-colonialism, communism rain supreme. Today it is about knowledge and hard work. Not hate and being anti-everything.
Even though you are probably 50+ you should get out of your dead ideologies and start thinking about the world as a village.
Hezbollah, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Baath party, Al Qaeda are all the same carbage. They are violent, dictatorial and repressive. They are an affront to humanity and have no value added. When they gas their people, they should be taken out.
And btw Iran is the pits of the earth. It is no democracy. Look at how the government repressed the green movement and imposed a president.