home
October 1 2013 Breaking News Mortar shell hits Russian embassy compound in Damascus - monitoring group -
September 2013 Breaking News Assad rejects chemical weapons allegations, warns US against attack - Last days end times news prophecy update - read more
September 2013 Breaking News Syria 'chemical weapons' crisis: LIVE UPDATES
August 2013 Doctors without boarders approximately 3,600 of its patients in Damascus showed symptoms of exposure to a neurotoxic agent (Chemical warfare)
Health concerns Air, Water, Food - Fears Grow In Damascus With Reported Chemical Attack read mor
August 24 2013 Breaking News shameful International disgrace One million children have fled Syria conflict - Last days end times news prophecy update 8-24-13
1,100 Syrians killed in new chemical weapons attacks.- Syrian activists inspect the bodies of people they say were killed by nerve gas in the Ghouta region near Damascus on Wednesday August 21st 2013. (source: Reuters)
CNN - President Barack Obama stating Syria will require America's attention. Essential American interests are at stake as Syria's two-year-old civil war continues to rage, President Barack Obama asserted in an exclusive interview with CNN that aired Friday August 23 2013.
Speaking with "New Day" anchor Chris Cuomo, Obama defended his administration's decision to not intervene militarily in the conflict so far, but predicted that American focus on the country's strife would be necessary for the fighting to come to an end.
"I think it is fair to say that, as difficult as the problem is, this is something that is going to require America's attention and hopefully the entire international community's attention," Obama said.
His remarks came the same week rebels in Syria alleged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in an attack on rebels. The assault killed more than a thousand people, the rebels claimed.
Obama said the United States, along with United Nations inspectors, were gathering information on the attack, but that preliminary signs point to a "big event of grave concern."
"It is very troublesome," he said. "That starts getting to some core national interests that the United States has, both in terms of us making sure that weapons of mass destruction are not proliferating, as well as needing to protect our allies, our bases in the region."
A year ago, Obama laid out his barometer for greater action in Syria during a White House press conference. He said in August 2012 that "a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized."
"That would change my calculus," Obama said at the time. "That would change my equation."
Earlier this summer, the Obama administration announced it would provide military support to rebel fighters because al-Assad's forces had used chemical weapons. Some members of Congress have called for greater U.S. involvement.
In the CNN interview, Obama countered those calls by pointing both to international law and to the cost of intervening further in the Syrian conflict. He also noted the billions of U.S. dollars still being spent in Afghanistan as the war in that country winds down.
"Sometimes what we've seen is that folks will call for immediate action, jumping into stuff, that does not turn out well, gets us mired in very difficult situations, can result in us being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region," he said.
Obama: Time Frame For Possible Action On Syria Has Shortened - read more
Watch CNN exclusive interview with President Barack Obama
Chemical Weapons Claims Spur Calls For Force Against Syria - read more -
In Familiar Refrain, Syria Faces Criticism, Not Intervention read more
Home
Post a Comment