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Obama Calls Russian Syria Proposal ‘Potentially’ Positive
by Cals Tue 10 Sep 2013, 08:02
Obama Calls Russian Syria Proposal ‘Potentially’ Positive
By Lisa Lerer - Sep 10, 2013 7:08 AM GMT+0800
President Barack Obama said Russia’s bid to get Syria to surrender its chemical weapons is a “potentially positive development” that could avert a U.S. strike, while expressing skepticism about whether the embattled regime would follow through.
The president said in an interview with NBC News that he isn’t confident that Congress will approve an authorization to use military force, and he hasn’t decided whether he would strike Syria even if lawmakers turn him down. Polls released today showed public opposition growing.
Enlarge image[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Demonstrators rally in support of possible U.S. military action in Syria, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., September 9, 2013. Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Audio Download: Brown’s Schiller Discusses President’s Syria Push
While vowing that the U.S. will pursue the Russian opening to see whether it’s serious, Obama said it has to be taken “with a grain of salt.”
“We have to be skeptical because this is not how we’ve seen them operate over the last couple of years,” Obama said in the interview, one of six he taped today as part of an administration-wide attempt to rally public and congressional support for a U.S. military attack against Syria.
In a separate interview with ABC News, Obama said that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gives up his chemical weapons, a military strike would “absolutely” be put on pause.
Obama’s interviews were a prelude to his address to the nation tomorrow night in which he’ll make his case that U.S. national security is at stake if the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons against civilians last month goes unanswered. His top aides and advisers have been briefing lawmakers and the president made personal appeals at a dinner with Republican senators last night and telephone calls over the weekend.
Russian Proposal
The new proposal came from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who seized on an off-hand remark by Secretary of State John Kerry at a briefing in London with U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Kerry, asked what could stop a U.S. military strike, said Assad “could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week.”
“But he isn’t about to do it, and it can’t be done, obviously,” he added.
Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, said Kerry’s statement wasn’t an ultimatum. She said the top U.S. diplomat was making a “rhetorical argument about the impossibility and unlikelihood of Assad turning over chemical weapons he has denied he used.”
Syria Reaction
Lavrov said after meeting with his Syrian counterpart today in Moscow that Russia would “immediately start working with Damascus” if international control of chemical weapons in Syria would forestall a military strike.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem welcomed the opening and called it a constructive proposal to “prevent American aggression against our people.”
The attempt to get Syria to give up chemical weapons gained at the United Nations. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters he was “considering urging the Security Council to demand immediate transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside Syria where they can be safely destroyed.”
He said he would make the request only after UN inspectors issue their report on chemical-weapons use in Syria.
There is move in Congress to give Syria an ultimatum before striking. Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota late last week circulated an alternative proposal that would provide a 45-day window for the Syrian government to endorse an international ban on chemical weapons or face U.S. military action.
U.S. Pressure
Obama said on CNN that the U.S. must keep up pressure and not allow Assad to engage in stalling tactics. He also said that his aim is to deter the use of chemical weapons and “If we can accomplish this limited goal without taking military action, that would be my preference.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, backing Obama’s plan for a strike on Syria, said today during a visit to the White House that it would be “an important step” if Assad “immediately surrendered” his weapons, “but this cannot be another excuse for delay.”
Assad, before the Russian proposal was made, said the U.S. should “expect every action” in retaliation for a strike.
“There are going to be repercussions,” Assad said in an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS’s “This Morning” program, an excerpt of which was aired this morning. He indicated the threat, including the use of chemical weapons, may come from terrorist groups.
Threat Dismissed
Obama dismissed the threat of retaliation by Syria.
“Syria doesn’t have significant capabilities to retaliate against us,” he said on NBC. “Iran does. But Iran is not going to risk a war with the United States over this.”
The administration is focusing on building support before a vote in the Senate this week on a resolution authorizing the use of military force in response to an Aug 21 attack by using sarin gas that the U.S. says was carried out by regime forces.
Opposition to using military force is growing in the U.S. A Pew Research Center-USA Today poll found the proportion of Americans against a U.S. strike grew to 63 percent from 48 percent over the past week. The heightened opposition was across party lines in the survey, conducted Sept. 4-8. Support was unchanged at 28 percent. Six in 10 said there are no good options for the U.S.
Congressional Support
Obama also is losing ground in Congress. A Bloomberg News tally now shows a majority in the House -- 218 members -- would vote “no” or are currently leaning against approving a use-of-force resolution. It would take a majority of 217 votes to approve or reject military action.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon said he didn’t think Obama can get support for Syria resolution in the House. McKeon said Obama would lose if the House voted today and “I don’t know how they build” support to get a majority.
In the Senate, three senators came out against the resolution calling for a military strike today: Republicans Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said she supports military action.
The administration has engaged in a lobbying effort that rivals the campaign Obama’s team mounted in 2009 to win passage of the Affordable Care Act. In the past two weeks, the White House has held discussions with at least 85 senators and more than 165 House members, according to an administration official.
Lobbying Lawmakers
The president spent much of the weekend calling lawmakers individually to make his pitch, and he joined Vice President Joe Biden to press the issue over dinner with Republican senators last night at the Naval Observatory in Washington. Obama plans to meet with Senate Democrats tomorrow.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice raised the prospect of a new threat from terrorists and from Iran and North Korea if the U.S. doesn’t punish Assad’s regime.
“Failing to respond brings us closer to the day when terrorists might gain and use chemical weapons against Americans abroad and at home,” she said in a speech at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute in Washington. “We cannot allow terrorists bent on destruction or a nuclear North Korea or an aspiring nuclear Iran to believe for one minute that we are shying away from our determination to back up our longstanding warnings.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lerer in Washington at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
By Lisa Lerer - Sep 10, 2013 7:08 AM GMT+0800
President Barack Obama said Russia’s bid to get Syria to surrender its chemical weapons is a “potentially positive development” that could avert a U.S. strike, while expressing skepticism about whether the embattled regime would follow through.
The president said in an interview with NBC News that he isn’t confident that Congress will approve an authorization to use military force, and he hasn’t decided whether he would strike Syria even if lawmakers turn him down. Polls released today showed public opposition growing.
Enlarge image[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Demonstrators rally in support of possible U.S. military action in Syria, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., September 9, 2013. Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Audio Download: Brown’s Schiller Discusses President’s Syria Push
While vowing that the U.S. will pursue the Russian opening to see whether it’s serious, Obama said it has to be taken “with a grain of salt.”
“We have to be skeptical because this is not how we’ve seen them operate over the last couple of years,” Obama said in the interview, one of six he taped today as part of an administration-wide attempt to rally public and congressional support for a U.S. military attack against Syria.
In a separate interview with ABC News, Obama said that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gives up his chemical weapons, a military strike would “absolutely” be put on pause.
Obama’s interviews were a prelude to his address to the nation tomorrow night in which he’ll make his case that U.S. national security is at stake if the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons against civilians last month goes unanswered. His top aides and advisers have been briefing lawmakers and the president made personal appeals at a dinner with Republican senators last night and telephone calls over the weekend.
Russian Proposal
The new proposal came from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who seized on an off-hand remark by Secretary of State John Kerry at a briefing in London with U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague.
Kerry, asked what could stop a U.S. military strike, said Assad “could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week.”
“But he isn’t about to do it, and it can’t be done, obviously,” he added.
Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, said Kerry’s statement wasn’t an ultimatum. She said the top U.S. diplomat was making a “rhetorical argument about the impossibility and unlikelihood of Assad turning over chemical weapons he has denied he used.”
Syria Reaction
Lavrov said after meeting with his Syrian counterpart today in Moscow that Russia would “immediately start working with Damascus” if international control of chemical weapons in Syria would forestall a military strike.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem welcomed the opening and called it a constructive proposal to “prevent American aggression against our people.”
The attempt to get Syria to give up chemical weapons gained at the United Nations. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters he was “considering urging the Security Council to demand immediate transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside Syria where they can be safely destroyed.”
He said he would make the request only after UN inspectors issue their report on chemical-weapons use in Syria.
There is move in Congress to give Syria an ultimatum before striking. Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota late last week circulated an alternative proposal that would provide a 45-day window for the Syrian government to endorse an international ban on chemical weapons or face U.S. military action.
U.S. Pressure
Obama said on CNN that the U.S. must keep up pressure and not allow Assad to engage in stalling tactics. He also said that his aim is to deter the use of chemical weapons and “If we can accomplish this limited goal without taking military action, that would be my preference.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, backing Obama’s plan for a strike on Syria, said today during a visit to the White House that it would be “an important step” if Assad “immediately surrendered” his weapons, “but this cannot be another excuse for delay.”
Assad, before the Russian proposal was made, said the U.S. should “expect every action” in retaliation for a strike.
“There are going to be repercussions,” Assad said in an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS’s “This Morning” program, an excerpt of which was aired this morning. He indicated the threat, including the use of chemical weapons, may come from terrorist groups.
Threat Dismissed
Obama dismissed the threat of retaliation by Syria.
“Syria doesn’t have significant capabilities to retaliate against us,” he said on NBC. “Iran does. But Iran is not going to risk a war with the United States over this.”
The administration is focusing on building support before a vote in the Senate this week on a resolution authorizing the use of military force in response to an Aug 21 attack by using sarin gas that the U.S. says was carried out by regime forces.
Opposition to using military force is growing in the U.S. A Pew Research Center-USA Today poll found the proportion of Americans against a U.S. strike grew to 63 percent from 48 percent over the past week. The heightened opposition was across party lines in the survey, conducted Sept. 4-8. Support was unchanged at 28 percent. Six in 10 said there are no good options for the U.S.
Congressional Support
Obama also is losing ground in Congress. A Bloomberg News tally now shows a majority in the House -- 218 members -- would vote “no” or are currently leaning against approving a use-of-force resolution. It would take a majority of 217 votes to approve or reject military action.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon said he didn’t think Obama can get support for Syria resolution in the House. McKeon said Obama would lose if the House voted today and “I don’t know how they build” support to get a majority.
In the Senate, three senators came out against the resolution calling for a military strike today: Republicans Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said she supports military action.
The administration has engaged in a lobbying effort that rivals the campaign Obama’s team mounted in 2009 to win passage of the Affordable Care Act. In the past two weeks, the White House has held discussions with at least 85 senators and more than 165 House members, according to an administration official.
Lobbying Lawmakers
The president spent much of the weekend calling lawmakers individually to make his pitch, and he joined Vice President Joe Biden to press the issue over dinner with Republican senators last night at the Naval Observatory in Washington. Obama plans to meet with Senate Democrats tomorrow.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice raised the prospect of a new threat from terrorists and from Iran and North Korea if the U.S. doesn’t punish Assad’s regime.
“Failing to respond brings us closer to the day when terrorists might gain and use chemical weapons against Americans abroad and at home,” she said in a speech at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute in Washington. “We cannot allow terrorists bent on destruction or a nuclear North Korea or an aspiring nuclear Iran to believe for one minute that we are shying away from our determination to back up our longstanding warnings.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lerer in Washington at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
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