Obama considers "Limited Act" Against Syria

 

Barack Obama: "We're not considering any boots on the ground approach"

President Obama has said the US is considering a "limited narrow act" in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian army. Mr Obama stressed that no "final decision" has been made, but ruled out putting American "boots on the ground".

Citing a US intelligence assessment, Secretary of State John Kerry accused Syria of using chemical weapons to kill 1,429 people, including 426 children. Syria replied the US claim was "full of lies", blaming rebels for the attack. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier said his country would defend itself against any Western "aggression". French President Francois Hollande has reaffirmed his support for the US stance. However, Russia - a key ally of Syria - has warned that "any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council" would be a "direct violation of international law".
 
Speaking on Friday, President Obama said the alleged attack in Damascus' suburbs on 21 August was "a challenge to the world" that threatened America's "national security interests".
"We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale.
"The world has an obligation to make sure that we maintain the norm against the use of chemical weapons."
But the US leader stressed that Washington was "looking at the possibility of a limited, narrow act", and there would be "no boots on the ground" or "long-term campaign".

Mr Obama comments came shortly after Secretary of State John Kerry laid out a d raft of what Washington said was a "high confidence" intelligence assessment about the attack.

The main findings of the released unclassified summary state that:

• the attack killed 1,429 people, including 426 children
• Syrian military chemical weapons personnel were operating in the area in the three days before the attack
• Satellite evidence shows rockets launched from government-held areas 90 minutes before first report of chemical attack
• 100 videos attributed to the attack show symptoms consistent with exposure to nerve agent
• Communications were intercepted involving a senior Damascus official who "confirmed chemical weapons were used" and was concerned about UN inspectors obtaining evidence

The US said its assessment was backed by accounts from medical personnel, witnesses, journalists, videos and thousands of social media reports. A team of UN chemical weapons inspectors investigating the alleged poison-gas attacks was due to leave Damascus by Saturday morning.
It could be two weeks before their final report is ready, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told diplomats. But Mr Kerry said the US already had the facts, and nothing that the inspectors found could tell the world anything new. He also described Mr Assad as "a thug and a murderer".  In response, Syria's state-run news agency Sana said Mr Kerry was using "material based on old stories which were published by terrorists over a week ago".

The UN Security Council is unlikely to approve any military intervention because of opposition from Russia - one of the five permanent members. Moscow, along with China, has vetoed two previous draft resolutions on Syria. The US was also dealt a blow on Thursday when the UK parliament rejected a motion supporting the principle of military intervention. The vote rules the UK out of any potential military alliance.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Mr Obama spoke over the telephone on Friday, agreeing to continue to co-operate on international issues. The president told Mr Cameron he "fully respected" the approach taken by the UK government.

US officials said they would continue to push for a coalition, and France said it was ready to take action in Syria alongside the US. Mr Obama and French President Francois Hollande discussed the issue in a telephone conversation on Friday, Paris said. It said that both leaders wanted to send Damascus a "strong message" to condemn the alleged use of chemical weapons. Unlike Britain, neither France nor the US needs parliamentary approval for military action.

Another US ally, Turkey, called for action similar to the Nato bombing raids in the former Yugoslavia in 1999. Nato carried out 70 days of air strikes to protect civilians from attack in Kosovo, despite not having a UN resolution. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said that any military intervention should be aimed at toppling Mr Assad.

The use of chemical weapons is banned under several treaties, and considered illegal under customary international humanitarian law. The Syrian army is known to have stockpiles of chemical agents including sarin gas. The UN inspectors have collected various samples that will now be examined in laboratories across the world. The UN team is not mandated to apportion blame for the attacks.

US Secretary of State John Kerry did far more than set out a moral case for military action.
What he did was make it impossible for President Barack Obama to back away from it. He said if the US didn't act, history would judge them harshly. If they turned a blind eye, it would embolden dictators in Iran and North Korea and leave the US without credibility in the world. Mr Obama has made similar points himself. It is not the first time Kerry has made the case. But these were the strongest words yet.
When Mr Obama spoke he sounded pretty cautious by comparison, although he too pointed firmly towards some form of action.  But he was keen to stress that any action would be limited, unlike Afghanistan or Iraq, and would not involve boots on the ground. There are increasing mutterings from Congress, asking him how certain he is of that.