You've 90 days to deal with Assad, Obama is told: Senate chiefs back action as President says 'world set red line, not me'
- - A Senate committee approved 'limited and tailored' military action
- - Mission cannot involve any troops on the ground for combat operations
By TOM LEONARD
|
Barack Obama is to be given only 90 days by the US Senate to deal with Bashar al-Assad.
The upper house’s foreign relations committee last night approved a resolution that permits the president to order a ‘limited and tailored’ military operation.
But that mission should not exceed 90 days and nor could it involve any US troops on the ground for combat operations, they said.
'My credibility is not on the line': Barack Obama answers questions in Sweden yesterday
Deadline: Obama has been given only 90 days by the U.S Senate to deal with Bashar al-Assad, pictured
The resolution also calls on the administration to submit to Congress a strategy for achieving a political settlement in Syria.
Before deciding on the move, the committee grilled secretary of state John Kerry and military chiefs for three hours about their plans.
‘We have an obligation to act, not witness and watch while a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in plain view,’ said the committee’s chairman, Bob Menendez.
After announcing that he would ask Congress to rubber stamp his plan to take military action over Syria’s use of chemical weapons, Mr Obama has been buoyed by the support of Republican leaders.
Questions: Secretary of State John Kerry was grilled by the foreign affairs committee before a decision was made
The US president was in Sweden’s capital Stockholm yesterday on an official visit before the G20 summit in Russia.
He said he expected Congress to approve his plans for strikes, declaring: ‘My credibility’s not on the line, the international community’s credibility’s on the line.’
He also pointed to the consensus against the use of chemical weapons dating back a century.
‘I didn’t set a red line, the world set a red line,’ he said.
‘The world set a red line when governments representing 98 per cent of the world’s populations said the curse of chemical weapons is abhorrent.’
Delay: John McCain delayed the Senate decision after declaring that he would oppose it
The Senate panel voted on its resolution yesterday after a delay caused by John McCain saying he would oppose it.
The former Republican presidential contender and Vietnam veteran, who said he was unhappy with its wording, has considerable sway over party colleagues on foreign policy.
Call to arms: Yesterday, French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault echoed Mr Obama as he defended his government¿s call for military action
Members of the House of Representatives have come up with a similar draft resolution for their colleagues to consider.
It would limit a military campaign to 60 days and prohibit the use of ground forces. With the decision on the resolutions in both the House and Senate likely to be a conscience vote, the president cannot take the backing of either for granted.
Congressmen on both sides are opposed to any military intervention while others want to see more convincing evidence that al-Assad is using chemical weapons.
Yesterday, French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault echoed Mr Obama as he defended his government’s call for military action. He told the French parliament any response should be ‘strong, quick and targeting specific objectives’.
‘To not act would be to put in danger peace and security in the entire region,’ he said.
Meanwhile, German intelligence agents are said to have eavesdropped on a vital telephone call proving that Assad ordered the suspected chemical attack in Damascus.
The BND agents heard a high-level Hezbollah official – the Lebanese terror group that supports the Assad regime – talking to the Iranian embassy in Lebanon. In the call, the commander admitted poison gas was used only because Assad ‘lost his nerve’ and thought parts of his capital were about to fall to rebels.
The Hezbollah functionary also commented that he thought the release of the sarin gas missiles was ‘a big mistake’.
Troubled: Boys walk on the rubble of a building hit by what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus as fighting continues
CAMERON FIRES ADVISER FOR NOT SUPPORTING GOVERNMENT
Sacked: Jesse Norman
David Cameron has sacked one of his leading advisers after he failed to vote for the Government’s position on military action in Syria.
Jesse Norman, tipped as a future leader of the Conservative Party, has been removed from his role on the Downing Street policy ideas board.
The MP, pictured, is the first casualty following last week’s shock defeat on the motion condemning use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and backing the ‘principle’ of intervention.
More are expected to follow Mr Cameron’s fellow Old Etonian to the exit because 39 Coalition MPs voted with Labour and 31 Tories, including Mr Norman abstained.
His dismissal does not bode well for others including International Development Secretary Justine Greening and Foreign Office minister Mark Simmonds, who claimed they missed the vote because they did not hear the bell while chatting in a soundproofed room.
A colleague, who did not want to be named, said it was ‘outrageous’ that Mr Norman was sacked over a ‘moral issue’, adding: ‘If he had rebelled on a legislative issue I could understand but instead he acted on principle and reflected the vast majority of the public.’
But Downing Street, while ‘sad’ about his departure, said ‘it was made clear all members of the policy board must vote with the Government’.
Mr Norman’s appointment to the policy board was a return to the fold, after he sabotaged Lords reform plans last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment