Posted By Elias Groll
Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 8:49 AM
Top news: President Obama went before the nation
on Tuesday night to make his case for a military intervention in Syria,
but with the likelihood that such a resolution would be defeated on the
Hill and a and a promising Russian diplomatic initiative to defuse the
crisis, Obama said he would delay a vote in Congress on the issue.
"It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments," Obama said. "But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force."
Obama's speech capped a series of dramatic diplomatic developments during which the president's war resolution seemed headed for defeat in Congress until Russia endorsed a scheme for Syria to give up its chemical weapons. The plan, which at first seemed to stem from an off-hand remark by Secretary of State John Kerry, is now being described by administration officials as first broached during last year's G-20 meeting in Mexico. Obama and Putin failed to reach an agreement at the time, and White House officials say they were surprised at the speed with which Russia embraced the plan after comments by Kerry that his own spokeswoman described as "rhetorical" and "hypothetical."
With plans for a Congressional authorization no on ice, U.S. officials say they are evaluating the Russian proposal, the specifics of which remain vague but would involve Syria declaring giving up its chemical weapons arsenal. "It has to be swift, it has to be real, and it has to be verifiable," an administration official told the Wall Street Journal. "It can't be a delaying tactic, and if the U.N. Security Council seeks to be the vehicle to make it happen, well then it can't be a debating society."
In an indication of the diplomatic difficulties facing the proposal, Russia on Tuesday rejected a proposed French Security Council resolution that appeared to authorize the use of force if the weapons transfer collapsed. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called that condition "unacceptable."
Kerry and Lavrov will meet in Geneva on Thursday, where Kerry will try to divine whether he has stumbled on a genuine breakthrough or into a cleverly set trap.
Syria chemical weapons: With a Russian proposal for Syria to give up its chemical weapons gathering a head of steam, FP's Yochi Dreazen reports on the massive challenges facing such an undertaking. The plan, according to chemical weapons experts, would be nearly impossible to carry out, and the technical challenges facing such an effort cast significant doubt on the sincerity of Russian and Syrian claims that Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons stocks can be brought under control.
"It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments," Obama said. "But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force."
Obama's speech capped a series of dramatic diplomatic developments during which the president's war resolution seemed headed for defeat in Congress until Russia endorsed a scheme for Syria to give up its chemical weapons. The plan, which at first seemed to stem from an off-hand remark by Secretary of State John Kerry, is now being described by administration officials as first broached during last year's G-20 meeting in Mexico. Obama and Putin failed to reach an agreement at the time, and White House officials say they were surprised at the speed with which Russia embraced the plan after comments by Kerry that his own spokeswoman described as "rhetorical" and "hypothetical."
With plans for a Congressional authorization no on ice, U.S. officials say they are evaluating the Russian proposal, the specifics of which remain vague but would involve Syria declaring giving up its chemical weapons arsenal. "It has to be swift, it has to be real, and it has to be verifiable," an administration official told the Wall Street Journal. "It can't be a delaying tactic, and if the U.N. Security Council seeks to be the vehicle to make it happen, well then it can't be a debating society."
In an indication of the diplomatic difficulties facing the proposal, Russia on Tuesday rejected a proposed French Security Council resolution that appeared to authorize the use of force if the weapons transfer collapsed. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called that condition "unacceptable."
Kerry and Lavrov will meet in Geneva on Thursday, where Kerry will try to divine whether he has stumbled on a genuine breakthrough or into a cleverly set trap.
Syria chemical weapons: With a Russian proposal for Syria to give up its chemical weapons gathering a head of steam, FP's Yochi Dreazen reports on the massive challenges facing such an undertaking. The plan, according to chemical weapons experts, would be nearly impossible to carry out, and the technical challenges facing such an effort cast significant doubt on the sincerity of Russian and Syrian claims that Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons stocks can be brought under control.
Asia
- Four men were convicted of the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman aboard a New Delhi bus.
- North and South Korea agreed to resume operations next week at the Kaesong industrial zone, the border complex that was shut down amid tensions earlier this year.
- A stand off between government forces and Philippine rebels in the country's south entered its third day.
Middle East
- Two car bomb explosions in the Sinai Peninsula killed six Egyptian army officers.
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the West to take advantage of the diplomatic opportunity created by his election to reach a deal on his country's nuclear program and said the time for striking such an agreement is limited.
- Two members of Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia were killed and another two were arrested, including the group's second in command.
Europe
- After winning parliamentary elections, Norway's Conservative Party entered delicate negotiations over the shape of its coalition government, with two potential partners expressing reservations about forming a government with the anti-immigrant Progress Party.
- Protesters in Turkey clashed with police following the death of a 22-year-old demonstrator in Antakya.
- French judges opened an investigation into four men with alleged ties to jihadist groups in Syria.
Africa
- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe named his cabinet, selecting a group of loyalists and excluding the opposition from the government.
- William Ruto, Kenya's deputy president, pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity as his trial began at the International Criminal Court.
- With troops loyal to the recently deposed president on the offensive, the chief of the Central African Republic's army was sacked.
Americas
- NSA searches of a database containing the phone records of nearly all Americans violated court-ordered privacy protections.
- The Quebecois separatist government released a plan that would ban government workers from wearing "overt and conspicuous" religious symbols.
- At a ceremony for the 40th anniversary of the coup that brough Augosto Pinochet to power in Chile, opposition leader Michelle Bachelet called for a full accounting of the regime's crimes.
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