International Credibility at Stake on Syria, Obama Says

September 04, 2013

by Kent Klein

President Barack Obama on Wednesday said it is the international community’s credibility - not his - that is at stake if Syria’s alleged chemical attacks on its citizens are not addressed.

At a joint news conference in Stockholm after meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt, Obama reacted defiantly to suggestions that his credibility will be damaged if his proposal for military strikes on Syrian facilities is rejected by Congress.

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

Europeans wary

The president acknowledged that many Europeans are hesitant to act militarily against Syria because of the allegations of chemical weapons that led to the war in Iraq.

“I’m not interested in repeating mistakes of us basing decisions on faulty intelligence, but having done a thorough evaluation of the information that is currently available, I can say with high confidence chemical weapons were used,” he said.

Obama is visiting Sweden on his way to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. He is expected to continue to argue there for a military response to reports that the Syrian government attacked civilians with toxic gas last month.

The Russian government, one of Syria's main allies, is likely to resist that push.

Putin's warning

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he "doesn't exclude" supporting a U.N. authorization of military force against Syria if there is proof the government there used chemical weapons.

But he warned the U.S. against taking action without U.N. approval.

"Only the U.N. Security Council could sanction the use of force against a sovereign state," Mr. Putin told the Associated Press and Russia's state Channel 1 television network. "Any other pretext or method which might be used to justify the use of force against an independent sovereign state is inadmissible and can only be interpreted as an aggression."

Putin urged the U.S. to present "convincing" evidence about chemical weapons to the United Nations.

He said Russia has suspended the delivery of S-300 surface-to-air missile components to Syria, but would reconsider if steps are taken that "violate international norms."

More U.S. debate

In Washington, a key Senate committee could vote Wednesday on a measure authorizing U.S. military action in Syria

Leaders of the Foreign Relations Committee agreed late Tuesday on details of a plan that would give Obama authority to order limited strikes against Syrian military targets for 60 days. He could extend the window by another 30 days under certain conditions.

The resolution would not authorize the use of ground troops. It states military action must be aimed at deterring and preventing Syria from carrying out future chemical weapons attacks.

The measure would also require the president to present a strategy for bringing a political resolution to the Syrian crisis.

The resolution must clear the committee and gain approval in the full Senate and House of Representatives before taking effect.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry told the Foreign Relations Committee he has no doubt that U.S. inaction on Syria would lead to a greater war and more use of chemical weapons.

He said it is beyond any reasonable doubt that President Bashar al-Assad's government used chemical weapons on civilians in the attack on August 21 that killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus.

Syria has denied using chemical weapons, alleging it was the rebels who deployed them.

Congressional leaders have expressed support for action against Syria, but other U.S. lawmakers remain wary of approving military force, as do most Americans, according to a public opinion poll released this week.

U.N. urges political solution

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said any use of chemical weapons in Syria is an “outrageous war crime,” and he called on the Security Council to “unite and develop an appropriate response” to bring the perpetrators to justice. However, he said a political solution to the crisis in accordance with the U.N. Charter is the best way to proceed.

U.N. experts are trying to determine if chemical weapons were used in neighborhoods near Damascus, but there is no word yet when their report will be complete.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees on Wednesday met with officials from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, to call for more international aid for the 2 million Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war. The vast majority of them have crossed into Syria’s neighboring countries in the past 12 months, and the U.N. expects the numbers to rise.