US Senate leader delays crucial test vote on Syria
Obama says Russia plan for Syria chemical arms may be 'positive'.
Obama warned against any stalling tactics from Syria, and said the fact there was any talk of a diplomatic way out of the crisis was only down to his administration's threats of military action. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
WASHINGTON DC:
US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday he is delaying a key vote on authorizing the use of force in Syria to let President Barack Obama publicly address the issue.
Earlier in the day, the top Obama ally in Congress had scheduled the crucial test vote for Wednesday but then backtracked to let the US leader sell his plan on strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"I want to make sure the president (makes) his case to the Senate and the American people before voting on this matter," Reid said.
"I don't think we need to see how fast we can do this. We have to see how well we can do this."
Amid deep divisions in Congress over the way forward, Obama meets with Democratic and Republican senators Tuesday and gives a televised address to the nation that night.
Russia, which has blocked US and British efforts to gain a United Nations resolution approving international action against Syria, appeared to open a path toward a solution Monday when it suggested a plan for Damascus to hand over its chemical weapons.
Obama called the plan "potentially positive," and hinted at congressional delays as his administration weighs Moscow's comments.
"I don't anticipate that you would see a succession of votes this week or anytime in the immediate future," Obama told ABC News.
But Republican Senator John McCain, who has long pressed for military action, said he remained "very, very sceptical" of Russia's offer.
"It's got to be verifiable, it's got to be definitive, and it's got to be time sensitive," he told reporters.
McCain said the plan would need to see inspectors enter Syria "immediately" to get the chemical weapons under control and removed within two weeks. He added that he would want to see the deal approved by the UN Security Council within a week.
Passage of Reid's Senate procedural step, known as a cloture vote, would let the chamber proceed to official debate on a resolution endorsing limited military action.
Should there be objections to the motion, as at least one Republican senator threatened last week, the 100-member chamber would need 60 votes to move forward.
Obama's Democrats control the Senate, but it is unclear whether the president has the necessary support to meet the 60-vote threshold.
Reid, however, said he has spoken to top Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and "virtually all my Democratic senators, and we have enough votes to get to cloture."
At least three lawmakers who had been among the many in the undecided column announced Monday they would oppose the move to authorize the use of force.
"After step A, what will be steps B, C, D and E?" veteran Republican Senator Lamar Alexander told his constituents.
"I see too much risk that the strike will do more harm than good by setting off a chain of consequences that could involve American fighting men and women in another long-term Middle East conflict."
The Senate resolution now being considered forbids US boots on the ground in Syria for combat purposes, but several war-weary lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concern that a strike would still draw the United States deeper into a Mideast military entanglement.
First-term Senate Democrat Heidi Heitkamp said she and Senator Joe Manchin, another Democrat who has voiced deep scepticism about Obama's plans, were drafting "an alternative approach" that would give Assad 45 days to sign an international chemical weapons ban and start turning over such poison gas.
Approval of Obama's plan may be tougher in the Republican-held House of Representatives, where far more lawmakers have spoken out in opposition of the strikes than in favor.
Obama: Russia plan for Syria chem arms may be 'positive'
US President Barack Obama said Monday that a Russian plan for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons was "potentially positive" and pledged to take it seriously.
But, in a CNN interview, Obama warned against any stalling tactics from Syria, and said the fact there was any talk of a diplomatic way out of the crisis was only down to his administration's threats of military action.
"It is a potentially positive development," Obama said of the Russian plan, as he gave interviews to six television anchors as part of a fierce push to win backing from Congress on strikes against Syria.
"I have to say that it's unlikely we would have arrived at that point where there were even public statements like that without a credible military threat," Obama told CNN.
The president said he had asked his Secretary of State John Kerry to work with Russia to see if Moscow's suggestion of a deal, which would see Syrian chemical weapons placed under international supervision, was possible.
"This is a continuation of conversations I've had with President Putin for quite some time," Obama told PBS, and told Fox he had first discussed the idea with Russian President Vladimir Putin at last year's G20 summit in Mexico.
"If we can exhaust these diplomatic efforts and come up with a formula that gives the international community a verifiable, enforceable mechanism to deal with these chemical weapons in Syria, then I'm all for it."
Obama admitted in another interview with NBC News that he was not yet certain that he would win congressional backing for a new US military venture in the Middle East.
"I wouldn't say I'm confident," Obama said.
"I'm confident that the members of Congress are taking this issue very seriously and they're doing their homework and I appreciate that."
The president said that though the Russian plan could turn into a "significant breakthrough" on the crisis, he believed that caution was merited, simply because of the track record of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"We have to be sceptical because this is not how we've seen them operate-- over the last couple of years," Obama said.
The president told ABC News that any deal that could be verified to take Syria's chemical weapons off the battlefield could "absolutely" head off the prospects of US missile strikes to punish an August 21 chemical weapons attack.
Obama also suggested that eventual US strikes against Syria could be delayed by a combination of the new developments and still soft US public opinion on the idea of launching military action in Syria.
"We're going to have time to have a good deliberation in Congress," Obama told Fox television.
"We will pursue this diplomatic track. I fervently hope that this can be resolved in a non-military way.
"But I think it is important for us not to let the, you know, the pedal off the metal when it comes to making sure that they understand that we mean what we say about these international bans on chemical weapons."
US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday he is delaying a key vote on authorizing the use of force in Syria to let President Barack Obama publicly address the issue.
Earlier in the day, the top Obama ally in Congress had scheduled the crucial test vote for Wednesday but then backtracked to let the US leader sell his plan on strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"I want to make sure the president (makes) his case to the Senate and the American people before voting on this matter," Reid said.
"I don't think we need to see how fast we can do this. We have to see how well we can do this."
Amid deep divisions in Congress over the way forward, Obama meets with Democratic and Republican senators Tuesday and gives a televised address to the nation that night.
Russia, which has blocked US and British efforts to gain a United Nations resolution approving international action against Syria, appeared to open a path toward a solution Monday when it suggested a plan for Damascus to hand over its chemical weapons.
Obama called the plan "potentially positive," and hinted at congressional delays as his administration weighs Moscow's comments.
"I don't anticipate that you would see a succession of votes this week or anytime in the immediate future," Obama told ABC News.
But Republican Senator John McCain, who has long pressed for military action, said he remained "very, very sceptical" of Russia's offer.
"It's got to be verifiable, it's got to be definitive, and it's got to be time sensitive," he told reporters.
McCain said the plan would need to see inspectors enter Syria "immediately" to get the chemical weapons under control and removed within two weeks. He added that he would want to see the deal approved by the UN Security Council within a week.
Passage of Reid's Senate procedural step, known as a cloture vote, would let the chamber proceed to official debate on a resolution endorsing limited military action.
Should there be objections to the motion, as at least one Republican senator threatened last week, the 100-member chamber would need 60 votes to move forward.
Obama's Democrats control the Senate, but it is unclear whether the president has the necessary support to meet the 60-vote threshold.
Reid, however, said he has spoken to top Republican Senator Mitch McConnell and "virtually all my Democratic senators, and we have enough votes to get to cloture."
At least three lawmakers who had been among the many in the undecided column announced Monday they would oppose the move to authorize the use of force.
"After step A, what will be steps B, C, D and E?" veteran Republican Senator Lamar Alexander told his constituents.
"I see too much risk that the strike will do more harm than good by setting off a chain of consequences that could involve American fighting men and women in another long-term Middle East conflict."
The Senate resolution now being considered forbids US boots on the ground in Syria for combat purposes, but several war-weary lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concern that a strike would still draw the United States deeper into a Mideast military entanglement.
First-term Senate Democrat Heidi Heitkamp said she and Senator Joe Manchin, another Democrat who has voiced deep scepticism about Obama's plans, were drafting "an alternative approach" that would give Assad 45 days to sign an international chemical weapons ban and start turning over such poison gas.
Approval of Obama's plan may be tougher in the Republican-held House of Representatives, where far more lawmakers have spoken out in opposition of the strikes than in favor.
Obama: Russia plan for Syria chem arms may be 'positive'
US President Barack Obama said Monday that a Russian plan for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons was "potentially positive" and pledged to take it seriously.
But, in a CNN interview, Obama warned against any stalling tactics from Syria, and said the fact there was any talk of a diplomatic way out of the crisis was only down to his administration's threats of military action.
"It is a potentially positive development," Obama said of the Russian plan, as he gave interviews to six television anchors as part of a fierce push to win backing from Congress on strikes against Syria.
"I have to say that it's unlikely we would have arrived at that point where there were even public statements like that without a credible military threat," Obama told CNN.
The president said he had asked his Secretary of State John Kerry to work with Russia to see if Moscow's suggestion of a deal, which would see Syrian chemical weapons placed under international supervision, was possible.
"This is a continuation of conversations I've had with President Putin for quite some time," Obama told PBS, and told Fox he had first discussed the idea with Russian President Vladimir Putin at last year's G20 summit in Mexico.
"If we can exhaust these diplomatic efforts and come up with a formula that gives the international community a verifiable, enforceable mechanism to deal with these chemical weapons in Syria, then I'm all for it."
Obama admitted in another interview with NBC News that he was not yet certain that he would win congressional backing for a new US military venture in the Middle East.
"I wouldn't say I'm confident," Obama said.
"I'm confident that the members of Congress are taking this issue very seriously and they're doing their homework and I appreciate that."
The president said that though the Russian plan could turn into a "significant breakthrough" on the crisis, he believed that caution was merited, simply because of the track record of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"We have to be sceptical because this is not how we've seen them operate-- over the last couple of years," Obama said.
The president told ABC News that any deal that could be verified to take Syria's chemical weapons off the battlefield could "absolutely" head off the prospects of US missile strikes to punish an August 21 chemical weapons attack.
Obama also suggested that eventual US strikes against Syria could be delayed by a combination of the new developments and still soft US public opinion on the idea of launching military action in Syria.
"We're going to have time to have a good deliberation in Congress," Obama told Fox television.
"We will pursue this diplomatic track. I fervently hope that this can be resolved in a non-military way.
"But I think it is important for us not to let the, you know, the pedal off the metal when it comes to making sure that they understand that we mean what we say about these international bans on chemical weapons."