Obama ‘has the right’ to strike regardless of vote, says Kerry
President has promised to take punitive action but wants Congress to vote on issue first
The US could go ahead with military strikes against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime even without the backing of Congress based on its evidence that the regime used sarin in chemical attacks outside Damascus last month, US secretary of state, John Kerry, has said.
A day after president Barack Obama vowed to put any intervention in Syria to a vote of both the Senate and House of Representatives, Mr Kerry said the administration was confident of winning a motion of the kind that David Cameron unexpectedly lost last week.
“We don’t contemplate that the Congress is going to vote no,” Mr Kerry said, but he stressed the president had the right to take action “no matter what Congress does”.
President Obama has promised to take punitive action but wants Congress to vote on the issue first.
In a surprise decision on Saturday, Mr Obama delayed “limited” military intervention against Syria’s government over the gassing of 1,429 people in last month’s attack on a rebel-held suburb of Damascus, saying the US should strike against Syria but he would seek the approval of Congress.
Damascus responded today by saying US military action against Syria would amount to “support for al-Qaeda and its affiliates”.
Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad told the BBC armed groups backed by America had used chemical weapons - not Syrian troops.
In a round of appearances on political talk-shows yesterday, secretary of state John Kerry stressed the Obama administration could still choose to take military action even without congressional approval but he said the backing of US lawmakers would give any military action greater credibility.
“We don’t contemplate that the Congress is going to vote no,” Mr Kerry said.
Congress had a duty to act to uphold international norms against chemical weapons, he added.
Mr Kerry made new claims that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces used deadly sarin gas in the August 21st attacks, saying blood and hair samples taken from emergency workers tested positive for the nerve agent.
Referring to the new evidence obtained in the previous 24 hours as a further reason to approve military action, Mr Kerry said the case against Dr Assad was “building” and growing stronger “by the day”.
Mr Obama’s move to seek congressional approval is seen as a gamble because of the strong opposition to him on Capitol Hill. The move delays any US action until Monday week at the earliest when Congress returns from its summer break.
The timing may be further complicated as UN chemical experts will take up to three weeks to analyse evidence collected at the scene of the chemical attack.
A day after Mr Obama vowed to put any intervention in Syria to a vote of both the Senate and House of Representatives, Mr Kerry said the administration was confident of winning a motion of the kind that David Cameron unexpectedly lost last week.
“We don’t contemplate that the Congress is going to vote no,” Mr Kerry said, but he stressed the president had the right to take action “no matter what Congress does”.
In a round of appearances on the political shows in the US yesterday, Mr Kerry said the evidence of sarin came from samples from first responders who had helped victims of the attacks.
“[We have] blood and hair samples that have come to us through a secure chain of custody from east Damascus - it has tested positive for signatures of sarin. So each day that goes by this case is even stronger,” he said.
Mr Kerry said America’s evidence for the use of sarin nerve gas had not come from the
Yesterday, Britain definitively ruled out any involvement in military strikes against Syria even if further chemical attacks take place.
British foreign secretary William Hague said Britain would offer only diplomatic support to its allies.
“Parliament has spoken. I don’t think it is realistic to think that we can go back to parliament every week with the same question having received no for an answer.”
His remarks were echoed by the chancellor, George Osborne, who said he did not think more evidence or more UN reports would have convinced the MPs who voted against intervention. He also ruled out a rerun of the vote.
Syrian opposition figures have reacted angrily to what they perceive as America’s delay in striking against Dr Assad.
While the Obama administration insists that military intervention would be a punishment for the chemical weapons attack and a deterrent against future incidents rather than an attempt at regime change, many in the fractured opposition hope it will tip the military balance in their favour after a two and a half year civil war that has killed about 100,000 people.
Samir Nishar, of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, called Mr Obama a “weak president”, according to CNN.
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