Syria: World’s red line has been crossed - Obama

PRESIDENT Barack Obama last night made it clear he intends to press ahead with military action against the Assad regime in Syria over its use of chemical weapons.

US president Barack Obama outlines the case for military strikes in response to Syrias use of chemical weapons. Picture: AP

A SENATE panel has voted to give President Barack Obama the authority to use military force against Syria in response to the deadly chemical weapons attack.

The vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday evening was the first in a series as the president’s request makes its way through congressional panels before coming before the two chambers of Congress for a final vote.

The decision aids the White House’s push to win congressional backing for a strike in advance of the full Senate, which is expected to vote on the measure next week.

Obama’s top advisers on Wednesday took the argument for action to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where the support seen in the Senate will be harder to secure.

The resolution would permit Obama to order a limited military mission against Syria that must not exceed 90 days and involves no American troops on the ground for combat operations.

The Senate committee vote was 10-7, with one senator voting present. It marked the first time lawmakers have voted to authorize military action since the October 2002 votes giving President George W. Bush the authority to invade Iraq.

Two Democrats, Tom Udall and Chris Murphy, joined Republicans Marco Rubio, John Barrasso, James Risch, Ron Johnson and Rand Paul in voting against the measure.

Udall said he was “horrified” by Assad’s attacks on his own people, but said he did not want the United States becoming

embroiled in Syria’s war. “I’m voting ‘no’ because this policy moves the United States toward greater involvement in the Syria civil war,” he said after the vote.

Obama, who was visiting Sweden before he attends a G-20 economic summit with Russia later this week, said the international community’s credibility is at stake in the debate over a military response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The administration says a sarin gas attack by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces outside Damascus last month killed more than 1,400 people. Assad’s government has denied being behind the attack.

Asked about his past comments drawing a “red line” against the use of chemical weapons, Obama said that line had already been drawn by a chemical weapons treaty ratified by countries around the world.

“That wasn’t something I made up,” he said.

The administration needs to persuade a Republican-dominated House of Representatives that has opposed almost everything on Obama’s agenda since the party seized the majority more than three years ago.

The top Republican in Congress, House Speaker John Boehner, has signaled key support, saying the U.S. has “enemies around the world that need to understand that we’re not going to tolerate this type of behavior.”

Obama on Saturday unexpectedly stepped back from ordering a military strike under his own authority and announced he would seek congressional approval.

When asked if he would take action against Syria if he fails to get that approval, he said: “I always preserve the right and the responsibility to act on behalf of America’s national security.”

The administration says 1,429 people died from the gas attack on Aug. 21.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, were trying to make their case in a public hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Kerry said that when chemical weapons were used in Syria last spring, Obama did not have a “compelling” enough case to push for a U.S. military response.

He added that U.S. intelligence can prove Assad has used chemical weapons at least 11 times, and said North Korea and Iran were watching the U.S. closely.

Obama is expected to gain little support for action during his overseas trip.

Only France has offered publicly to join the United States in a strike. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that any “punitive” strike on Syria would be illegal without a sound case for self-defense or the approval of the Security Council, where Syria ally Russia has used its veto power to block action against Assad’s regime.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West against taking one-sided action in Syria but said Russia “doesn’t exclude” supporting a U.N. resolution on punitive military strikes if it is proved that Syria used poison gas on its own people.

Russian officials said a military strike on Syria could have catastrophic effects if a missile hit a small reactor near

Damascus that contains radioactive uranium.

Putin, however, has expressed hope that he and Obama would have serious discussions about Syria and other issues at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg this week.

Obama said Wednesday he is “always hopeful” that Putin will change his position on taking action in Syria.