It's Official: Barack Obama Is Now a Lame Duck President

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – CON COUGHLIN: If any lesson is to be drawn from Barack Obama's White House speech, it is that he has no interest in providing the kind of decisive leadership we have come to expect from American presidents.

For anyone hoping for a clear explanation of where Obama stands on the Syria issue, last night's speech failed to provide the answers. The president says he wants to give Russia's proposal to disarm Syria a chance, and therefore doesn't want Congress to vote on whether or not to take military action. Read on and comment » | Con Coughlin | Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Only Ground Troops Will End Bloodshed in Syria, Says Commander of UN during Rwandan Genocide

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Syria's situation is as dangerous as that in Rwanda before the genocide, according to the commander of the UN forces who tried in vain to convince the world to intervene.

Lt General Romeo Dallaire, head of the UN in Rwanda at the time, made increasingly desperate attempts to rally the world and send soldiers to stop the genocide. But, unwilling to intervene in a far-off land, the UN members did not respond – and 800,000 people were killed in 100 days.

"The parallel is the ineptitude of the international community, given a whole bunch of politicians worried about self interest and political capital back home," he said. "Not statesmen who are able to take risks and explain essentially where they want to go with this thing.

"Why should people want to engage when the politicians go at it half-assed? If the politicians, who are supposed to be the leaders, are hedging their bets, then why would the population be convinced?

"That's not leadership. That's just fiddling with the books."

But Mr Dallaire, who is now a senator in his native Canada, said that the only way to resolve the conflict was to send in troops.

He described the idea of a targeted, military strike as "absolute bull ----," and said that only with boots on the ground would the sides be separated and a diplomatic solution achieved. Ground forces should be sent in, he argued, under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter – the clause which authorises action with respect to threats to the peace and acts of aggression. » | Harriet Alexander | Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Charlie Rose’s Full Interview with Bashar al-Assad

CBS News’s Charlie Rose sat down with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the weekend.

Vladimir Putin Threatens UN Syria Vote over US Threat of Force

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Washington: An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council has been cancelled and the diplomatic initiative to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons is under threat after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the US and other nations must renounce the use of force against Bashar al-Assad's regime.

A lot of people say nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. Well, it's the credible threat of force that has ... brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal.

Putin's remarks complicate the outlook for the Russian proposal a day after it was presented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who seized on comments in London by US Secretary of State John Kerry about the possibility of Syria turning over its chemical-weapons stockpile.

Kerry and Lavrov plan to meet in Geneva on September 12 to discuss Syria, according to a State Department official who asked not to be identified in advance of an announcement. » | Bloomberg, AFP | Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Putin: Syria Chemical Arms Handover Will Work Only If US Calls Off Strike

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Syria's chemical arms handover will only work if the US and its allies renounce the use of force against Damascus

President Assad: US 'Foolish' to Strike Syria

BBC: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned of the regional repercussions if the US was to launch military action against Syria.

Speaking to Charlie Rose in a PBS interview, the president said the US would be "foolish" to pursue strikes.

"If you strike somewhere you have to expect the repercussions somewhere else in different forms, in ways that you don't expect," he said. Watch BBC video » | Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Inside Story: Why Intervene in Syria Now?

We ask why, when bullets and bombs have killed tens of thousands, it took an alleged chemical attack to inspire outrage.

'US Neocon Fanatics Will Target Syria No Matter What Assad Does'

Barack Obama's hard-pressed to avoid repeating the mistakes of his predecessor, who attacked Iraq without UN approval and under what turned out to be a false pretext. Reaction on this, RT is joined by British journalist and broadcaster Neil Clark.

Obama Backs Russia's Chemical Handover Proposal, May Shelve Syria Strike

President Obama is willing to "absolutely" put on pause a military strike on Syria if Bashar Assad accepts Russia's proposal to hand over control of the country's chemical weapons to the international community

'Unfocused' and 'Indecisive' Obama Losing Ground on Syria?

John Bolton reacts to president's news conference at G20

Will Rand Paul Filibuster a Vote on Syrian Resolution?

Kentucky senator on 'Fox News Sunday'

If the US Is 'Wrong' on Syria, What Would It Mean for Iran?

Sen. Graham sounds the alarm

Should Obama Act Without Public Support

Inside Story: Ready for War?

As Obama argues for a strike on Syria, we discuss how generals on both sides are preparing for the potential fight.

Syria Welcomes Proposal on Chemical Weapons

Russian foreign minister says he urged Syria to surrender its chemical weapons if it would help avert military strikes.

'Assad Unpleasant, But Rational, Chemical Attack Seems Illogical' - Ex-UK Foreign Secretary

Will Obama strike Syria? Have all the consequences of such a strike been weighed in the balance? Is the evidence of a chemical attack enough and credible to punish Assad and the Syrians? Have we not seen the same story in Iraq and if we have, did we learn from history? We talk about this and more with Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary at the time when the West took the crucial decision to launch a war on Iraq.

Lawmakers, Leading Policy Experts Tell Newsmax: Obama's Miscues Have Damaged Presidency

NEWSMAX: Deferring to Congress to authorize an attack on Syria’s Bashar al-Assad may have been the biggest gamble of Barack Obama’s presidency – and could significantly weaken the presidential office if it backfires, experts and commentators warn in exclusive interviews with Newsmax.

Some observers are beginning to suggest the administration’s mishandling of Syria has been so severe, it may affect not only Obama’s presidency, but future presidents’ terms as well.

“I was stunned,” former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton tells Newsmax. “What the president did was a display of weakness of the kind we haven’t seen in an American leader in decades, if not since the 19th century.” » | David A. Patten | Sunday, September 08, 2013

Bashar al-Assad: US Will Pay Price for Syria Strike

BBC: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned that the US would "pay the price" for any strike against Syria.

He told US broadcaster PBS that strikes would increase instability and lead to the spread of terrorism in the region.

He said there was "no evidence" that government forces had used chemical weapons against their own people.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry has once again warned that taking no action against Mr Assad's regime is riskier than launching strikes.

When asked at a news conference whether there was anything Mr Assad could do to avoid military action, Mr Kerry replied that he could hand over his entire stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week.

However, US officials later clarified that Mr Kerry was making a "rhetorical argument" rather than a serious offer.

Mr Kerry has been lobbying hard for military action against Syria during talks with EU and Arab foreign ministers in Europe.

The US Congress is due to debate whether to authorise intervention in Syria. Watch BBC video » | Monday, September 09, 2013

American Threats Widen Fault Lines Among Syria's Rebels

THE GUARDIAN: Martin Chulov writes from a roadhouse near Aleppo where jihadists and al-Qaida affiliates prepare to face the US enemy

When Barack Obama vowed to attack Bashar al-Assad, several thousand jihadists on the plains of northern Syria knew exactly what to do. Ever since, they have been hiding their big guns, evacuating bases, parking cars in cow sheds and spreading themselves thin among farms, factories and the communities that reluctantly host them.

"We have learned the lessons from Iraq," said Abu Ismail, a leader of the main jihadist group in the north-east of the country, known to some now as the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). "Iraq has made us better fighters."

While Syria's mainstream rebels are enthusiastically welcoming talk of an American attack as a chance to break the stalemate, the jihadist groups among them see things through a very different prism, in which my enemy's enemy is not necessarily my friend.

All across the north, al-Qaida and its affiliates are on a war footing; a rank and file convinced that an old foe is coming their way and that if and when the US air force does attack, they will have little trouble staying out of its way.

"There are many among us [who] fought in Iraq and Afghanistan," said a second jihadist, a 26-year-old softly spoken Saudi, who called himself Abu Abid. "Our emir knows how to deal with them. And all know that while the Americans say they want to attack the regime, we are their real enemy." » | Martin Chulov | The Guardian | Sunday, September 08, 2013

Syria: Is It Worth Risking Human Lives for the Sake of Human Rights?

Chemical weapons have horrified mankind since their first widespread use almost a century ago. The world has come to recognize their use as a flagrant violation of international law. As the US once again beats the drums of war towards Syria, we ask how justified such an intervention is, given the conflicting evidence and the widespread opposition to it. Will a strike help stop the war, or will it drag the whole region into a more brutal and protracted conflict? To wrestle over these issues, Oksana is joined by Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch.