On this Anniversary of September 11, 2001..I would like to think that maybe the Russians have offered Syria an alternative that if they agree to it can avert a U.S. air strike and an even larger international incident..
Seems we are always at the brink of some kind of international calamity...
Yesterday ,The Syrian government appeared poised to accept the Russian proposal for Syria to hand over chemical weapons amid a flurry of diplomatic maneuverings around the world.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said Damascus was ready to cooperate on the Russian initiative and join a convention that forbids their use.
"I am authorized to confirm our support for the Russian initiative regarding chemical weapons in Syria in compliance with the regime of the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons," Moualem said, referring to an agreement written in 1992 and ratified by 189 countries that bans the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.
"
We are ready to inform about the location of chemical weapons, halt the production of chemical weapons and also show these objects to representatives of Russia, other states and the United Nations," the foreign minister added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the proposal to place Syria's chemical weapons stockpile under international control will not succeed unless the United States and its allies reject the use of force against Syria.
“All this will work only in case we hear that American side and all those who support it will denounce using force,” Putin said in televised remarks.
Putin’s statement came not long after President Barack Obama agreed to discuss the plan – just hours before he was due to address Congress and the American people to make the case for the use of military strikes if diplomatic solutions fail. According to a senior administration official, Obama was changing his speech Tuesday afternoon to reflect the latest diplomatic developments. The president does still believe that a military option has to stay on the table, an official said, in response to Putin's suggestion.
A Tuesday afternoon emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council was put on hold after Russia -- who had requested it originally -- withdrew its request, U.S. officials said.
Meanwhile, France, Britain and the United States were still meeting privately to discuss the elements of a new resolution for the U.N. Security Council to incorporate Russia's proposal.
Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to further discuss Russia's proposal.
While, in Syria, rebels and activists believe that the proposal to hand over chemical weapons is merely a ploy. Those who oppose the regime told NBC News that President Bashar Assad is getting away with murder -- getting away with using chemical weapons that killed hundreds of civilians.
"There is anger and disappointment on the streets now. We have been facing death and under fire for the last two and a half years while the world has been silent," an opposition activist in Damascus said. "Even after the use of chemical weapons, no one acted. We only have God to help us."
"I think Bashar Assad won this battle," said a Free Syrian Army commander, adding that the United States doesn't seem to care about Syria's losses.
"There will be more victims and more destruction."
The growing momentum behind Russia's plan, which had already been endorsed by China and Iran, came only 24 hours after Kerry raised a weapons handover at a news conference in London.
President Obama said Monday that the Russia plan offered a potential path that averted U.S. military strikes, but John Kerry cautioned that the only reason the Russia solution has "potential legs at all" is because of a credible threat of force. He does appear to have a point...
"Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging," Kerry told a congressional committee yesterday. He said President Obama would look at the plan but added:
"We’re waiting for that proposal, but we’re not waiting for long.”
Secretary Kerry said it had been the
“credible use of force” by the U.S. that has
“for the first time brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal,” adding that the threat of military action
“is more compelling if the Congress stands with the commander in chief.” But our congress being the way it is..Probably won't.
Again...I'm not proposing war..I'm just saying.
U.S. officials said Secretary Kerry also expressed concern that it would be hard to verify whether Syria had complied with any such plan, or to know if the regime had still kept some of its chemical weapons stockpiles.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel echoed that line to the committee, saying the Russia deal
"could be a real solution to this crisis," but added: "
We must be clear-eyed and ensure it is not a stalling tactic by Syria and its Russian patrons."
Senior senators - including John McCain, R-Ariz., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. - announced they were working on a new plan that would authorize the president to use force only if Syria did not comply with a U.N. resolution to remove chemical weapons by a pre-determined deadline.
Why does this sound like 2004 all over again???
Even as they discussed their move, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced his opposition to military strikes against Syria. And Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee and Kerry's successor in the Senate, said he would not support the use of force resolution passed by the committee, calling it too broad. Amazing isn't it? The only time you can get these two parties to agree on anything...
The president traveled to Capitol Hill shortly after noon Tuesday to meet with the Senate Democratic Caucus and Senate Republican Conference before delivering an address to the nation from the East Room of the White House at 9:01 p.m. ET.
The White House has been battling to shore up support in Congress for a strike, which is unpopular among Americans. Unpopular among Americans?? Since when has this Congress cared about what was popular amongst Americans?? Give me a break!!
The Senate delayed an authorization vote after the Russian proposal became public, but on Tuesday Kerry said that
"nothing has changed" on the administration request for congressional action.
In a further development, a spokesman for Putin said the Russian president had discussed the weapons handover plan with Obama at last week’s G-20 summit, and a senior administration official told NBC News that the two had discussed the concept a year ago. The official said, however, that it wasn't until the chemical weapons attack on Aug. 21 killed hundreds of people that the Russians showed a willingness to put together a serious proposal.
That shed a different light on Kerry’s mention of the plan at a news conference in London on Monday. That had previously been characterized by spokesman Jen Psaki as an off-the-cuff “rhetorical argument.”
President Obama's case for limited airstrikes targeting Assad's regime was boosted early Tuesday when a Human Rights Watch report blamed Syrian government forces for the Aug. 21 attack.
The U.S.-based rights group said it had reached its conclusion after analyzing witness accounts, remnants of the weapons used and medical records of victims.
Human Rights Watch said it did not believe the attack could have been carried out by rebels or other
“terrorists” as a smokescreen, as suggested by Assad.
"Human Rights Watch and arms experts monitoring the use of weaponry in Syria have not documented Syrian opposition forces to be in possession of the 140mm and 330mm rockets used in the attack, or their associated launchers," the report added .
Adding to international concern, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency reported that Syrian jets bombed the border town of Tel Abyad on Monday, prompting yet more Syrians to seek refuge in Turkey. Thousands had already flooded across the border, leaving authorities struggling to cope.
So here we are...Will there be war or peace??? Again I ask...Why does this sound like 2004 all over again???
