Speaking from the G20 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia this morning, President Obama addressed the topic of Syria, where he acknowledged that he knew it would be a tough fight to convince Congress and the American public to move forward with a military strike.
The president expressed a reluctance to use military force, saying “I was elected to end wars, not start them,” but he emphasized his belief that it’s a necessary move in order to enforce international norms.
From The Guardian:
When there’s a breach this brazen of a norm this important, and the international community is paralyzed, is frozen, and doesn’t act, then that norm unravels… and other norms begin to unravel. And that makes for more difficult choices, and more difficult responses in the future.
Over 1,400 people were gassed! Over 400 of them were children. This is not something that we fabricated. This is not something we’re using as an excuse for military action… I was elected to end wars, not start ’em.
Obama also stressed that he would prefer to take action on Syria with the support of the international community.
“If we end up using the UN Security Council not as a means of enforcing international norms and international law, but rather as a barrier to acting on behalf of international norms and international law, then I think people rightly are going to be pretty skeptical about the system and whether it can work to protect those children we saw in those videos,” he said.
The president refused to give a direct response to the question posed by several reporters as to whether or not he would proceed with a strike on Syria if he did not have the approval of Congress.
But an aide to Obama signaled today that he would not, according to ABC News.
“The president, of course, has the authority to act, but it is neither his desire nor his intention to use that authority absent Congress backing him,” Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told NPR’s Steve Inskeep this morning.Privately, other senior administration officials have been saying the same thing for days: Absent another major development in Syria, they find it inconceivable that the president would move forward with an attack if Congress fails to authorize it.
Earlier today, the president met with Russian president Vladimir Putin, where the two failed to come to an agreement on Syria. Putin maintained that he does not believe there is firm evidence that Assad was responsible for the chemical attacks and remains opposed to any action outside of the UN, according to the Associated Press/Washington Times.
Putin also insisted that the majority of the nations at the G20 meeting are not in favor of a military strike on Syria.
From the NY Times:
The only countries that supported Mr. Obama’s plan, the Russian leader said, were France, Canada, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, all nations that were on his side when he arrived here on Thursday.
Trying to counter the impression of isolation, the White House arranged for a joint statement including those allies as well as Australia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain and Britain condemning the Aug. 21 attack in the Damascus suburbs that according to American intelligence agencies killed more than 1,400 people through the use of chemical munitions.
“We call for a strong international response to this grave violation of the world’s rules and conscience that will send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated,” the statement said. “Those who perpetrated these crimes must be held accountable.” Still, the statement did not explicitly endorse military action.
Putin, meanwhile, says he will keep arming Syria.
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
One step forward, two steps back seems to be the only moves Obama knows. Less damage would be done if he simply spent the rest of his term on the links.
Well he does try to spend max time on the links. So yes, MOAR time would be even better.
“If we end up using the UN Security Council not as a means of enforcing international norms and international law, but rather as a barrier to acting on behalf of international norms and international law, then I think people rightly are going to be pretty skeptical about the system and whether it can work to protect those children we saw in those videos,”
What Planet does he live on? The one where no one has ever heard of the “UN Security Council”?
Get the hook! This vaudevillian is way past stage time!
If only we could.
Someday, after it’s too late, people will wake up and notice one thing Obama’s foreign policy has in common with everything he touches, or chooses not to…
The ethnic cleansing of Christians.
Video: Syrian Rebels Shell Ancient Christian Village…
http://weaselzippers.us/2013/09/06/video-syrian-rebels-shell-christian-village/
This village-
http://www.atlastours.net/syria/maaloula.html
Browndog, remember Obama’s Famous 2008 gaff on national TV admitting to his Muslim faith?
Connect the dots people!
Connect the dots!
And see the big picture!
In Syria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Serbia/Kosovo, and America, too. I wonder how many Christian Americans have volunteered to murder their own children, or support the slaughter of another couple’s children, thereby rejecting responsibility for their behavior, and choosing to lose their liberty and sacrifice their future. Neither a natural nor a faith to provide them direction and comfort.
Historically, the “rebels” represent the greater evil. They are the parties which oppressed minorities groups, including Christians, atheists, etc. Assad, as was Gaddafi, as was Mubarak, is a dictator, is also the mediator between the various parties. He is also a de facto defender of minority rights, including his own minor group, the Alawites.
Bingo! Pssst: don’t tell any RINO’s or Progressives, however, they know better. Until they don’t. I say let them move to Syria and compare life under
Assad versus take-your-pick fundamentalist fanatics. Their vigor for war would subside quickly, if they survived.
The skies over America are darkening with trial balloons, as the Obama administration proceeds not on moral imperative, as they’d have us believe, but on pure, poll-driven, cynical, self-serving politics.
Latest, and most telling: Obama advisor Tony Blinken saying it’s ‘inconceivable’ Obama would attack without congressional approval. This was the primary reason to go to congress in the first place – knowing beforehand the House will vote no, Obama’s off the hook and has his GOP scapegoat in hand. This will backfire, domestically and overseas, but it’s the best available outcome.
Mr. Obama, welcome to Lower Lameduckistan.
Best available outcome *for Obama*, politically speaking, that is. He is scared spitless at the possible outcomes of any attack, and he should be.
There may not even be a vote in the House if it is clear Obama would lose. Which would toss the ball back into the bumbling hands of Obama. And, as much as the administration and the media would try to show pictures of dead civilians in Syria while blaming the GOP for inaction, knowledge that the supposed act of war (aka military action) would accomplish nothing other than protect Obama’s fragile ego is too widespread for even the usual propaganda channels to disperse.
“my credibility is not on the line. The international community’s credibility is on the line. And America and Congress’ credibility is on the line” — Barack Obama
I’ll never get over that one.. I find what he said here so much more offensive than the “you didn’t build that” comment.
The President of the United States sees himself as separate and apart from America and its Congress. Awesome. Confirms and explains much of the last five years.
Oh Henry!
You mean he acts as though he weren t a citizen of these united states?
SNARK SNARK – for the humor impaired.
It is illustrative of his thinking when Obama says America’s credibility is at stake, but not his own. It is further illustrative of his thinking that Obama is so clueless to how bad that sounds, he doesn’t know not to say it.
Everybody – all other countries, the people of his own country, and the US Congress – are all culpable, but Obama himself is not. This is a pristine, golden, textbook example of the thinking of a narcissist, and yes, I am qualified to say that.
If a narcissist were in a marching band of 300 hundred members, and his step was different from the other 299, the narcissist’s automatic reaction is that he is fine and the other 299 band members are out of step. This is Obama to a tee. (It also perfectly explains the thinking of Anthony Weiner, but let’s deal with one dick at a time here…)
…and Oprah’s credibility is on the line!
Oh my!
I saw just a brief clip (on Greta) of Rush going off on Obama on this point. Something like “what American president has ever talked like that … blaming the American public for his own failures, taking no responsibility, showing no leadership”
It might just be me, but it seems that the country as a whole is moving away from Obama, while the GOP is moving toward him.
Pigs always know where the (money) trough is!
It’s the smell!
Scavengers move towards carcasses, too, and vultures hover over the dying.
Obama’s disapproval ratings are already dangerously low. No doubt they realize this Syria clusterfark may put him right out, lame duck status less than one year into his second term.
What was it Lincoln said? Oh yeah… “You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” With Obama, this unmasking took about, oh… five years.
It isn’t just you…but then again I don’t consider McCain or Graham “Republicans”….the worst choice we ever faced at an election was 2008. Two assholes and we had to choose. I voted for McCain and it makes my gut heave now. I may never vote again.
I am constantly amazed that putin and OBOZO aren’t best buds. After all, they have soooooo much in common:
-both are TYRANNICAL POLICE STATE DICTATORS
-both got into power and stayed in power through massive VOTING FRAUD
-both relentlessly spy on, harass, intimidate, imprison and attack their opponents
-both are devout marxists who revere the Communist Manifest
-both are thin skinned and can’t tolerate even the slightest criticism
-both detest the foundations and values of America which made it the greatest nation ever
-both are corrupt beyond belief and endlessly transfer the wealth of others to their cronies
-both are arrogant, narcissistic ego maniacs
In fact, I can find ONLY TWO differences – putin hates muslim islamofascist jihadist extremists and sexual deviants, while OBOZO…well, we know!
It is interesting to note that edward snowden, a very smart guy, found that of the two, putin is the LESSER EVIL – so sided with him.
“In fact, I can find ONLY TWO differences – putin hates muslim islamofascist jihadist extremists and sexual deviants, while OBOZO…well, we know!”
Well, yay! You and Putin are from the same religion!
FYI
“Obama and Kerry Are Lying About Syria
By Larry Johnson on September 5, 2013 at 1:03 PM in Current Affairs
Barack Obama and John Kerry are lying about what has happened in Syria.
Yes, I have a record of doing this. Friends on the inside of the CIA warned me back in May of 2003 that the intel on Iraq was cooked and the American people were being fed a lie. Unfortunately, I learned this too late and was unable aggressively to make the case before we launched the invasion.
RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article
Obama and Kerry Are Lying About Syria
By Larry Johnson on September 5, 2013 at 1:03 PM in Current Affairs
Barack Obama and John Kerry are lying about what has happened in Syria.
Yes, I have a record of doing this. Friends on the inside of the CIA warned me back in May of 2003 that the intel on Iraq was cooked and the American people were being fed a lie. Unfortunately, I learned this too late and was unable aggressively to make the case before we launched the invasion. Here’s what I said back then, and I was right:
My friends in the CIA are still around and they are now warning me that both the United States and the United Kingdom know that Bashir Assad is not responsible for the incident …
Important to note that no single Syrian military rocket capable of carrying a chemical agent has been recovered from the area. Not a single shred of physical evidence exists to support the claim that this was a result of a strike by a Syrian military unit with expertise in Chemical weapons. And, there still is no medical evidence backing up the specious claim by Kerry and Obama that this was sarin….
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/76328/obama-and-kerry-are-lying-about-syria/#more-76328
If Kerry’s lips are moving, he is lying. He can’t help it. Nearly 44 years of constant lying..hard to quit, eh?
It is absolutely frightening to me, that I am more agreement with a Russian President, than our own sitting President.
We need to stay out of Syria, unless they do something that threatens our national security. PERIOD.
As if we needed any more examples or evidence: Obama is simply a liar of the first order. A calculating, pathological, self-absorbed, lying scam artist who thinks nobody remembers anything he said before today. Bernie Madoff has nothin’ on this guy. He’s not ignorant of history, he just thinks he can twist it (i.e., lie about it) to serve his objectives. Whatever those are, at whatever moment in time.