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| Obama Delays Syria Strike to Focus on a Russian Plan | Obama Delays Syria Strike to Focus on a Russian Plan |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| WASHINGTON — President Obama, facing implacable opposition to a strike in Syria in Congress and throughout the country, said Tuesday that he would hold off on military action for now and pursue a Russian proposal for international monitors to take over and destroy Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons. | |
| Speaking to the nation from the White House, Mr. Obama laid out his most extensive and detailed case for an attack to punish Syria for its use of chemical weapons. But he also acknowledged the deep doubts of Americans who after the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan view any form of military engagement in Syria with alarm. | Speaking to the nation from the White House, Mr. Obama laid out his most extensive and detailed case for an attack to punish Syria for its use of chemical weapons. But he also acknowledged the deep doubts of Americans who after the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan view any form of military engagement in Syria with alarm. |
| In a speech that only 48 hours ago was going to be solely a call to arms, Mr. Obama instead offered a qualified endorsement of a proposal that his own advisers conceded was rife with risk, given Russia’s steadfast refusal to agree to any previous measures to pressure Syria, its longtime ally. | |
| “It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments,” Mr. Obama said. “But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force.” | “It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments,” Mr. Obama said. “But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force.” |
| The president said he had asked Congressional leaders to postpone a vote authorizing military action — a vote he was almost certain to lose — even while making the moral case for punishing Syria for its deadly use of chemical weapons. What Mr. Obama did not say was how long he was willing to wait, what would convince him that the Russian proposal was credible, and what he would do if it was not. | The president said he had asked Congressional leaders to postpone a vote authorizing military action — a vote he was almost certain to lose — even while making the moral case for punishing Syria for its deadly use of chemical weapons. What Mr. Obama did not say was how long he was willing to wait, what would convince him that the Russian proposal was credible, and what he would do if it was not. |
| For Mr. Obama, the 16-minute address from the East Room was a frank acknowledgment of how radically the political and diplomatic landscape had shifted in just a few days. With officials on Capitol Hill, at the United Nations and in foreign capitals flocking to embrace Russia’s plan as an alternative to force, Mr. Obama found himself struggling to redefine the terms of the debate. | For Mr. Obama, the 16-minute address from the East Room was a frank acknowledgment of how radically the political and diplomatic landscape had shifted in just a few days. With officials on Capitol Hill, at the United Nations and in foreign capitals flocking to embrace Russia’s plan as an alternative to force, Mr. Obama found himself struggling to redefine the terms of the debate. |
| His speech capped a day of rapid-fire developments as the United Nations Security Council scheduled and then canceled a meeting, Syria embraced the Russian proposal, and Mr. Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry to Geneva for two days of negotiations with his Russian counterpart. | His speech capped a day of rapid-fire developments as the United Nations Security Council scheduled and then canceled a meeting, Syria embraced the Russian proposal, and Mr. Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry to Geneva for two days of negotiations with his Russian counterpart. |
| Even in the face of widespread opposition, Mr. Obama made an impassioned case for a retaliatory strike, saying in starkly emotional terms that President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons could not be tolerated. | Even in the face of widespread opposition, Mr. Obama made an impassioned case for a retaliatory strike, saying in starkly emotional terms that President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons could not be tolerated. |
| “The images from this massacre are sickening,” Mr. Obama said, “Men, women, and children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at mouth, gasping for breath, a father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk.” | “The images from this massacre are sickening,” Mr. Obama said, “Men, women, and children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at mouth, gasping for breath, a father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk.” |
| Mr. Obama also framed his case in political terms. He asked those on the right to reconcile their commitment to America’s military might with a failure to act now. And he asked those on the left to reconcile their belief in freedom and dignity “with those images of children writhing in pain and going still on a cold hospital floor.” | |
| “For sometimes,” he said, “resolutions and statements of condemnation are not enough.” | “For sometimes,” he said, “resolutions and statements of condemnation are not enough.” |
| Yet for now at least, the debate will focus on the language of diplomacy — and particularly a Russian plan that has stirred doubt among administration officials, lawmakers and diplomats. Some of them said it would allow Syria to play for time and was calculated to undermine the drive for Congressional and international support for a strike. Others said the idea of securing chemical weapons stockpiles in the midst of a brutal civil war was fanciful. | Yet for now at least, the debate will focus on the language of diplomacy — and particularly a Russian plan that has stirred doubt among administration officials, lawmakers and diplomats. Some of them said it would allow Syria to play for time and was calculated to undermine the drive for Congressional and international support for a strike. Others said the idea of securing chemical weapons stockpiles in the midst of a brutal civil war was fanciful. |
| Moreover, the diplomatic efforts — which began after Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, announced his proposal on Monday — quickly ran into trouble. A meeting of the United Nations Security Council was canceled Tuesday afternoon after Russia clashed with the United States and France over whether to make its proposal binding and back it up with the threat of force. | |
| “We need a full resolution from the Security Council to have the confidence that this has the force it ought to have,” Mr. Kerry said in a social media interview sponsored by Google. “Right now the Russians are in a slightly different place on that.” | “We need a full resolution from the Security Council to have the confidence that this has the force it ought to have,” Mr. Kerry said in a social media interview sponsored by Google. “Right now the Russians are in a slightly different place on that.” |
| Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lavrov will meet in Geneva on Thursday to work out these disagreements. Before Russia made its announcement, Mr. Kerry expressed blunt skepticism that Syria could be trusted to turn over its stockpile, which is dispersed around the country. In testimony to Congress on Tuesday, he described the Obama administration’s position on the Russian plan. | |
| “It has to be swift, it has to be real, it has to be verifiable,” Mr. Kerry told the House Armed Services Committee. “It cannot be a delaying tactic.” | “It has to be swift, it has to be real, it has to be verifiable,” Mr. Kerry told the House Armed Services Committee. “It cannot be a delaying tactic.” |
| In signaling his country’s cooperation, the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Tuesday that Damascus would turn over its chemical weapons arsenal to Russia, the United Nations and “other countries” — a startling concession, given that as recently as this week Mr. Assad had disputed that Syria even possessed chemical weapons. | |
| Mr. Obama’s decision to work through the Security Council is itself a shift, given that 10 days ago he described it as “completely paralyzed and unwilling to hold Assad accountable.” But administration officials said they were swayed by the level of detail in the Russian proposal, which grew out of an impromptu conversation between Mr. Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin on the sidelines of a summit meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, last week. | Mr. Obama’s decision to work through the Security Council is itself a shift, given that 10 days ago he described it as “completely paralyzed and unwilling to hold Assad accountable.” But administration officials said they were swayed by the level of detail in the Russian proposal, which grew out of an impromptu conversation between Mr. Obama and President Vladimir V. Putin on the sidelines of a summit meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, last week. |
| “The Lavrov statement was quite comprehensive,” a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Frankly, it exceeded expectations in the level of detail it went into.” | “The Lavrov statement was quite comprehensive,” a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Frankly, it exceeded expectations in the level of detail it went into.” |
| On Capitol Hill, where opposition to a strike was hardening, senators emerged from lunchtime meetings with Mr. Obama optimistic that Congress could shift from a resolution authorizing force to one that would give diplomacy more time. | On Capitol Hill, where opposition to a strike was hardening, senators emerged from lunchtime meetings with Mr. Obama optimistic that Congress could shift from a resolution authorizing force to one that would give diplomacy more time. |
| The president impressed on them the need to keep the pressure on Syria and Russia, but expressed support for a delay in any vote until the Security Council makes clear what it plans to do. | The president impressed on them the need to keep the pressure on Syria and Russia, but expressed support for a delay in any vote until the Security Council makes clear what it plans to do. |
| “I didn’t see any anxiety on the part of the president for an immediate need for action,” said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland. | “I didn’t see any anxiety on the part of the president for an immediate need for action,” said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland. |
| While the House was considered the major obstacle for Mr. Obama in seeking approval for a strike, a shift in the Senate began taking shape before the Russian proposal Monday, when it became clear that the straightforward resolution authorizing force that the president had sought was highly unlikely to pass there either. Only a handful of Republicans were yes votes, and at least 15 Democrats were likely to vote no. | While the House was considered the major obstacle for Mr. Obama in seeking approval for a strike, a shift in the Senate began taking shape before the Russian proposal Monday, when it became clear that the straightforward resolution authorizing force that the president had sought was highly unlikely to pass there either. Only a handful of Republicans were yes votes, and at least 15 Democrats were likely to vote no. |
| Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and one of the strongest supporters of a strike, contacted a fellow Republican hawk, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, on Saturday to try to put together a new negotiating group. | Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and one of the strongest supporters of a strike, contacted a fellow Republican hawk, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, on Saturday to try to put together a new negotiating group. |
| On Monday, Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham met in the Capitol and brought in two senior Democratic senators, Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Charles E. Schumer of New York. | On Monday, Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham met in the Capitol and brought in two senior Democratic senators, Carl Levin of Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Charles E. Schumer of New York. |
| Mr. Levin stressed Tuesday that the alternative resolution developed by the group would authorize a military strike, but set aside that authority if Mr. Assad placed his chemical weapons under the control of the United Nations, as Russia has proposed. | Mr. Levin stressed Tuesday that the alternative resolution developed by the group would authorize a military strike, but set aside that authority if Mr. Assad placed his chemical weapons under the control of the United Nations, as Russia has proposed. |
| “This is kind of a twofer,” Mr. Levin said. “It’s a way of keeping the pressure on Syria and on Russia to get rid of chemical weapons, which is the goal of the whole effort, and second, if they fail, it would keep the authorization to launch a strike.” | “This is kind of a twofer,” Mr. Levin said. “It’s a way of keeping the pressure on Syria and on Russia to get rid of chemical weapons, which is the goal of the whole effort, and second, if they fail, it would keep the authorization to launch a strike.” |
| The approach quickly gained supporters in both parties. It meshed with an alternative resolution drafted by two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, which would have given Mr. Assad 45 days to join and comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention or face “all elements of national power.” | The approach quickly gained supporters in both parties. It meshed with an alternative resolution drafted by two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, which would have given Mr. Assad 45 days to join and comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention or face “all elements of national power.” |
| Mr. Graham cautioned that no one should conclude that the latest negotiations would produce a resolution strong enough to maintain a credible threat but capable of passing Congress. “I’m not going to embrace a U.N. path until I see it’s real,” he said. | Mr. Graham cautioned that no one should conclude that the latest negotiations would produce a resolution strong enough to maintain a credible threat but capable of passing Congress. “I’m not going to embrace a U.N. path until I see it’s real,” he said. |
| Such wariness may be warranted. Russia quickly opposed a draft United Nations resolution circulated by France because it would authorize force if the weapons transfer fell through. The draft, Mr. Lavrov told France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, was “unacceptable.” | Such wariness may be warranted. Russia quickly opposed a draft United Nations resolution circulated by France because it would authorize force if the weapons transfer fell through. The draft, Mr. Lavrov told France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, was “unacceptable.” |
| Russia favors a presidential statement, which is far less binding. It would call on the United Nations secretary general and the organization that oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention to carry out the plan to put Syria’s arsenal under international control. | Russia favors a presidential statement, which is far less binding. It would call on the United Nations secretary general and the organization that oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention to carry out the plan to put Syria’s arsenal under international control. |
| The diplomatic maneuvering brought criticism from some Arab countries. “This does not stop the bloodshed in Syria,” said Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, after a meeting of gulf states. | The diplomatic maneuvering brought criticism from some Arab countries. “This does not stop the bloodshed in Syria,” said Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, after a meeting of gulf states. |
Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York. | Rick Gladstone contributed reporting from New York. |