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Obama and aides confront sceptical Congress on Syria strike
U.S. says its envoy took part in Israeli-Palestinian meeting
Scornful Syria hails 'historic American retreat' as Obama hesitates

Obama and aides confront sceptical Congress on Syria strike

Posted:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his top aides launched a full-scale political offensive on Sunday to persuade a sceptical Congress to approve a military strike against Syria, but faced a struggle to win over lawmakers from both parties and a war-weary American public.

Obama made calls to members of the House of Representatives and Senate, with more scheduled for Monday, underscoring the task confronting the administration before it can go ahead with using force in response to a deadly chemical attack blamed on the Syrian government.

Dozens of lawmakers, some in tennis shirts or shirtsleeves, cut short their vacations and streamed into the corridors of the Capitol building for a Sunday afternoon intelligence briefing on Syria with Obama's national security team.

When they emerged nearly three hours later, there was no immediate sign that the many sceptics in Congress had changed their minds. Many questioned the broad nature of the measure Obama is seeking, suggesting it needed to be narrowed.

"I am very concerned about taking America into another war against a country that hasn't attacked us," said Representative Janice Hahn, a California Democrat. On the way out of the briefing, she said the participants appeared "evenly divided" on whether to give Obama approval.

Most seemed convinced that Syria had engaged in chemical warfare. "The searing image of babies lined up dead, that's what I can't get out of my mind right now," Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz said after the closed-door briefing.

But the credibility of the administration's intelligence is turning out to be a less important issue than the nature and usefulness of the response.

Earlier in the day, Secretary of State John Kerry invoked the crimes of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein and warned of a potential threat to Israel a day after Obama delayed an imminent attack on Syrian targets until after a congressional vote.

Even as Kerry took to the airwaves touting new evidence that deadly sarin gas was used in the August 21 chemical attack near Damascus, the scope of the challenge confronting the administration became apparent.

Lawmakers questioned the effectiveness of limited strikes, the possible unintended consequence of dragging the United States into another open-ended Middle East conflict, the wisdom of acting without broader international backing to share the burden, and the war fatigue of the American public.

Polls show the public is largely opposed to U.S. military action.

While Kerry predicted Obama would win the endorsement he wants, a growing cacophony of congressional critics - ranging from liberal Democratic doves to Republican Tea Party conservatives - illustrated just how hard that will be.

"I'm not convinced that the administration's support will resolve the issues in Syria," Representative Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said as he left the meeting, adding he was leaning toward a "no" vote.

"In terms of whether not a lot of questions were really answered today? I'd say no," he said.

Kerry, the administration's most impassioned voice for intervention in Syria's 2-1/2-year civil war, was left to publicly defend Obama's stunning reversal, a decision that puts any strike on hold for at least nine days.

"This is squarely now in the hands of Congress," Kerry told CNN, saying he had confidence lawmakers "will do what is right because they understand the stakes."

In a round of television appearances, Kerry declined to say whether Obama would proceed with military action if Congress rejects his request, as Britain's parliament did last week.

He echoed Obama's comments in the White House Rose Garden on Saturday, insisting the president had the right to act on his own if he chooses that course.

Obama is taking a gamble by putting the brakes on the military assault he considers essential to maintain U.S. credibility after he had said the use of chemical weapons would constitute a "red line" for the United States.

U.S. military officials are using the delay to reassess which ships will be used for a strike, and which sites in Syria to target. One change was a decision to send the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its entire strike group toward the Red Sea to help support the Syria strike, if needed.

MORE EVIDENCE

The consensus on Capitol Hill is that Obama has a good chance of winning approval in the Democratic-led Senate, but the vote appears too close to call in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where the president's opponents rarely miss an opportunity to block him.

The White House is due to talk with House Democrats by telephone on Monday, and Obama will meet with the heads of several key House and Senate committees in person on Tuesday.

Acknowledging that the administration has its work cut out, Kerry insisted Congress could not "have it both ways" by demanding a voice and then abdicating responsibility to uphold the international bans on chemical weapons use.

Kerry used the television appearances to provide further evidence backing accusations against the Syrian government.

"I can share with you today that blood and hair samples that have come to us through an appropriate chain of custody, from east Damascus, from first responders, it has tested positive for signatures of sarin," Kerry told CNN's "State of the Union."

It was the first time the administration had pinpointed the chemical used in the attack, which U.S. intelligence agencies said killed more than 1,400 people, many of them children.

OBAMA'S DILEMMA

Obama's efforts are sure to be hampered by his dismal relations with congressional Republicans. Another bitter face-off on government spending is looming this autumn.

Lawmakers for the most part welcomed Obama's decision to consult them, but looked in no hurry to reconvene early from their summer recess, which lasts until September 9.

Underscoring a sense of wariness even from Obama's traditional allies, many Democrats joined Republicans in saying the use-of-force resolution offered by the White House is too broad and that new language will be written for consideration.

Several said they wanted it to include strict time limits, guarantee that no U.S. troops would be sent into Syria, and tie authorization for any further military action to additional chemical weapons use by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"The president said this is going to be limited. Yet that's an open-ended authorization to just about do anything he wants," said Democratic Senator Tom Harkin.

"The resolution as it is right now is so open-ended that it gives a blanket authority with no time limits. You can't accept it just on its face," said Republican Representative Dennis Ross. "Now we have to look at what is the exit strategy if we do a strike, and I don't know if we're going to do that."

Republican Representative Peter King of New York said it was unclear if lawmakers would sign off on an attack on Syria, but he warned Obama may have to overcome "the isolationist wing" of the Republican Party to prevail.

Seeking to lay the groundwork for what is expected to be a heated congressional debate, Kerry tipped his hand on one administration tactic - linking the vote to safeguarding U.S. ally Israel from the Syrian chemical weapons threat.

"I don't think they will want to vote, ultimately, to put Israel at risk," Kerry said.

Lawmakers of both major political parties recognize how important it is to be seen as defenders of Israel, especially at election time, when they compete to show voters who is a better friend of the Jewish state.

(Adding dropped words in name, paragraph 30)

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Thomas Ferraro, Patricia Zengerle, Patrick Temple-West, David Brunnstrom, Rachelle Younglai and Andrea Shalal-Esa; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jackie Frank, Fred Barbash and Peter Cooney)

U.S. says its envoy took part in Israeli-Palestinian meeting

Posted:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Sunday for the first time that the U.S. envoy for Israeli-Palestinian peace had taken part in a meeting between the two parties since negotiations resumed in late July, but declined to say when or whether any progress was made.

"Israeli and Palestinian delegations have been meeting continuously since final status negotiations resumed on July 29," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a brief written statement.

"The negotiations have been serious, and U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk and his team have been fully briefed on the bilateral talks and also participated in a bilateral negotiating session," she added. "As we have said in the past, we are not planning to read out the details of these meetings."

It was not clear why the State Department decided to make the disclosure.

Despite deep scepticism among analysts and diplomats, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry this summer succeeded in persuading the two sides to resume peace negotiations that had collapsed in 2010.

Since their resumption, the State Department has said little about their course, and much of the Obama administration national security team's attention has been focused on the Egyptian military's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and on the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people.

Israeli-Palestinian peace has become Kerry's signature issue even as the United States is grappling with the unrest in Egypt and the civil war in Syria.

Kerry said on Sunday the Syrian government had used sarin against its own people in an August 21 attack.

President Barack Obama said on Saturday he believed the United States should undertake limited military action - widely expected to be in the form of cruise missile strikes - against Syria, but he decided to seek the approval of Congress for the use of force.

Obama argued it was vital to deter Syria, which borders U.S. allies Israel, Jordan and Turkey, as well as other nations or actors from using chemical munitions or other weapons of mass destruction.

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Scornful Syria hails 'historic American retreat' as Obama hesitates

Posted:

BEIRUT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Syria hailed a "historic American retreat" on Sunday, mockingly accusing President Barack Obama of hesitation and confusion after he delayed a military response to last month's chemical weapons attack near Damascus until after a congressional vote.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said tests had shown sarin nerve gas was fired on rebel-held areas on August 21, and expressed confidence that U.S. lawmakers would do "what is right" in response.

Washington says more than 1,400 people, many of them children, were killed in the attack.

It was the deadliest incident of the Syrian civil war and the world's worst use of chemical arms since Iraq's Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in 1988. But opinion polls have shown strong opposition to a punitive strike among Americans weary of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama's announcement on Saturday that he would seek congressional authorisation for punitive military action against Syria is likely to delay any strike for at least nine days.

His administration launched a political offensive on Sunday to win over a sceptical Congress, but faced tough questions from lawmakers in both parties.

The United Nations said Obama's announcement could be seen as part of an effort to forge a global consensus on responding to the use of chemical arms anywhere.

"The use of chemical weapons will not be accepted under any circumstances," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said. "There should be no impunity and any perpetrators of such a horrific crime against humanity must be held accountable."

The final resolution of a meeting of Arab League meeting foreign ministers meeting in Cairo urged the United Nations and international community to "take the deterrent and necessary measures against the culprits of this crime that the Syrian regime bears responsibility for".

The ministers also said those responsible for the attack should face trial, as other "war criminals" have.

The Syrian government says the attack was staged by the rebels. With Obama drawing back from the brink, President Bashar al-Assad reacted defiantly to the threat of Western retaliation, saying Syria was capable of confronting any external strike.

He left his most withering comments to his official media and a junior minister.

"Obama announced yesterday, directly or through implication, the beginning of the historic American retreat," Syria's official al-Thawra newspaper said in a front-page editorial.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad accused Obama of indecision. "It is clear there was a sense of hesitation and disappointment in what was said by President Barack Obama yesterday. And it is also clear there was a sense of confusion as well," he told reporters in Damascus.

Before Obama put on the brakes, the path had been cleared for a U.S. assault. Warships were in place and awaiting orders to launch missiles, and U.N. inspectors had left Syria after gathering evidence on the use of chemical weapons.

SCEPTICAL CONGRESS

Kerry invoked the crimes of Adolf Hitler, Saddam and the potential threat to Israel from Syria and Iran in urging U.S. lawmakers to back a strike on Assad's forces.

"This is squarely now in the hands of Congress," he told CNN, saying he had confidence "they will do what is right because they understand the stakes."

It became apparent on Sunday that convincing Congress of atrocities committed by Assad's forces was only one of the challenges confronting Obama.

Lawmakers raised a broad array of concerns, including the potential effectiveness of limited strikes, the possible unintended consequence of sparking a wider Middle East conflict, the wisdom of acting without broader international backing to share the burden and the war weariness of the American public.

Many Democrats and Republicans are uneasy about intervening in a distant civil war in which 100,000 people have been killed over the past 2 1/2 years, and lawmakers have not cut short their summer recess, which ends September 9.

Members of Congress were briefed by Obama's national security team on the case for military action. When they emerged after nearly three hours, many members from both parties questioned the broad nature of the measure Obama is seeking, suggesting it needed to be narrowed.

"The president said this is going to be limited. Yet that's an open-ended authorization to just about do anything he wants," said Senator Tom Harkin from Obama's Democratic Party.

The White House is due to talk with House Democrats by telephone on Monday, and Obama will meet with the heads of several key House and Senate committees in person on Tuesday.

Kerry said he had more evidence backing accusations against Damascus.

U.N. weapons inspectors collected their own samples and diplomats say Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told the five permanent Security Council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - that it would take up to two weeks before the final report is ready.

In Damascus, ordinary Syrians reacted with a mixture of relief, disappointment and scorn to Obama's decision. "I have to admit this morning was the first time I felt I could sleep in," said Nawal, who works as a housekeeper in the Syrian capital.

Bread had returned to the bakeries and members of the state security forces appeared relaxed, drinking tea and chatting at their posts outside government buildings.

FRANCE CANNOT GO IT ALONE

The United States had originally been expected to lead a strike relatively quickly, backed up by its NATO allies Britain and France. But British MPs voted on Thursday against any involvement and France said on Sunday it would await the U.S. Congress' decision.

"France cannot go it alone," Interior Minister Manuel Valls told Europe 1 radio. "We need a coalition."

French President Francois Hollande, whose country ruled Syria for more than two decades until the 1940s, has come under increasing pressure to put the intervention to parliament.

A BVA poll on Saturday showed most French people did not approve of military action and most did not trust Hollande to conduct such an operation.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, his prime minister, was to meet the heads of both houses of parliament and the conservative opposition on Monday before lawmakers debate Syria on Wednesday.

French first lady Valerie Trierweiler said on Sunday she was still in shock over pictures of Syrian children killed in the attack and told France's M6, "I do not know how one can bear it, how one can accept it."

Syria and its main ally, Russia, say rebels carried out the gas attack to draw in foreign military intervention. Moscow has repeatedly used its Security Council veto to block action against Syria, saying it would be illegal and only inflame the civil war.

Critics say further delay by Obama is simply buying Assad more time.

The Istanbul-based Syrian opposition coalition said Assad had moved military equipment and personnel to civilian areas and put prisoners in military sites as human shields against any Western air strikes.

It said rockets, Scud missiles and launchers as well as soldiers had been moved to locations including schools, university dormitories and government buildings inside cities.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports, and attempts to reach Syrian officials for comment were unsuccessful.

Obama's credibility has already been called into question for not punishing Assad over earlier alleged gas attacks, and he is under pressure to act now that he believes Damascus has crossed what he once described as a "red line".

Failure to act, some say, could mean Iran would feel free to press on with a nuclear programme the West believes is aimed at developing an atomic bomb and that might encourage Israel to take matters into its own hands.

"If Obama is hesitating on the matter of Syria, then clearly on the question of attacking Iran - a move that is expected to be far more complicated - Obama will hesitate much more, and thus the chances Israel will have to act alone have increased," Israeli Army Radio quoted an unnamed government official as saying.

Financial markets have been concerned about possible intervention in Syria, and a delay caused by seeking congressional approval would be "a positive," said Michael Yoshikami, CEO of Destination Wealth Management in Walnut Creek, California.

"A delay will let investors calm down and assess things. There was a lot of concern that there would be unilateral military action, because that could have had a major impact on oil prices, which in turn would have impacted GDP and consumer spending - not what we want to see with economic growth still so slow, he said.

Pope Francis called for a negotiated solution to the conflict in Syria and announced he would lead a worldwide day of prayer for peace in the country on Saturday.

(Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai, Louis Charbonneau and Edith Honan at the United Nations, Nick Tattersall in Istanbul, Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Philip Pullella in Rome, Ismael Khader in Antakya, Turkey, Michael Georgy in Cairo, Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom, Thomas Ferraro, Patricia Zengerle, Patrick Temple-West and Andrea Shalal-Esa in Washington, and Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Writing by David Stamp and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Peter Cooney; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Ahad, 1 September 2013

The Star Online: World Updates

The Star Online: World Updates

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