Politics
Syria: Obama postpones military option – to provide diplomacy a chance to resolve crisis
But compared to the rhetoric of recent weeks, when Pentagon officials told reporters that a salvo of missiles could be fired within days, the speech was a clear pivot towards diplomacy.
Obama made his threat of strikes in response to an attack on August 21, when Syrian forces allegedly killed 1,400 people in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus using sarin gas.
He defended the military option again Tuesday in an emotional passage about the horrors of the massacre, and said allowing a dictator to use chemical arms would threaten U.S. security.
But he gave an assurance that there would be no military force used until United Nations weapons inspectors have delivered their report into what happened.
U.S. lawmakers, who broadly oppose military action, appeared unmoved by Obama’s speech, reiterating concerns that strikes could eventually broaden into a wider involvement.
In the meantime, Syria has promised to renounce chemical weapons. Seizing on a plan by its Russian ally for its nerve gas arsenal to be taken under international control, it said it would sign the UN treaty banning chemical arms.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem told reporters: “We are ready to state where the chemical weapons are, to halt production of chemical weapons and show these installations to representatives of Russia, other countries and the UN.”
