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Saying Syria Used Sarin Gas, Kerry Makes Case for Attack Kerry Casts Obama’s Syria Decision as ‘Courageous’
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the administration had new evidence that sarin gas was used in a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government that killed 1,400 people last month, and he predicted that Congress would approve President Obama’s request to use force against Syria when lawmakers return from recess on Sept. 9. WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry, delivering a full-throated defense on Sunday of President Obama’s plan to delay military action against Syria, called the move to seek Congressional approval a “courageous decision” and said the administration had evidence that the neurotoxin sarin was used in the Aug. 21 chemical attack that killed more than 1,400 people.
“I can’t contemplate that Congress would turn its back on Israel and Jordan and the allies of the region,” Mr. Kerry said on “Fox News Sunday,” saying that lawmakers had a duty to act to uphold international norms against using chemical weapons. In invoking Israel, Mr. Kerry stressed that it was important to send a tough message to other nations pursuing weapons programs, like Iran and North Korea. One day after Mr. Obama stunned the world by halting what had seemed an inexorable push toward a cruise missile attack, Mr. Kerry, who has been the administration’s most forceful advocate for intervention, was left to defend the surprising reversal in a string of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows. The appearances — Mr. Kerry was a guest on five morning shows — underscored the administration’s tenuous position after a week of fits and starts over Syria.
Mr. Kerry, who is planning appearances on all five Washington Sunday-morning talk shows to defend Mr. Obama’s decision to delay a strike on Syria, also sent a pointed warning to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. If Mr. Assad were “foolish enough” to harm his people again, Mr. Kerry said, then Mr. Obama might take military action without waiting for Congress. “I think the president realized in consultations with Congress that people wanted to weigh in,” Mr. Kerry said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And he believed, after thinking about it, that the United States of America is much stronger when we act in concert.”
“Of course the president of the United States knows we have the power to do this, and I assume he would move very, very rapidly,” Mr. Kerry said. With many lawmakers openly skeptical, Mr. Kerry predicted that Congress would not “turn its back” on its obligation to uphold international norms against the use of chemical weapons. He said that hair and blood samples from first responders who were helping victims in East Damascus “have tested positive for signatures of sarin,” the first time anyone in the administration has pinpointed a particular cause.
Mr. Kerry said hair and blood samples from first responders who were helping victims in East Damascus “have tested positive for signatures of sarin.” While it was the first time anyone in the administration had pinpointed the poison, Mr. Kerry did not say how the administration had obtained the evidence. But he said the case against Mr. Assad was “going to build,” and insisted there was no cost to delaying. In recent days, as he has built a case for intervention, Mr. Kerry has called the attack a “moral obscenity” and branded President Bashar al-Assad of Syria “a thug and a murderer.” On Sunday, he likened Mr. Assad to two other dictators — Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein – who had violated the international prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.
“We do not lose anything; we actually gain,” Mr. Kerry said. “And what we gain is the legitimacy of the full-throated response of the Congress of the United States and the president acting together.” He added that Congress, which has been demanding that the president consult with lawmakers, “can’t have it both ways.” On “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Kerry issued a warning to Mr. Assad not to be “foolish enough” to take advantage of Mr. Obama’s delay. He suggested that the president would not wait for approval from lawmakers, who are on recess until Sept. 9, should another attack occur before they returned to Washington.
In recent days, Mr. Kerry had emerged as the administration’s strongest voice in favor of a punitive strike against Syria in response to the Aug. 21 attack there, in which more than one-third of the victims were children. Mr. Kerry has called Mr. Assad a “thug and a murderer” and has said that the use of chemical weapons was “a moral obscenity.” “If the Assad regime were to be foolish enough to attack yet again and to do something in the meantime,” Mr. Kerry said, “of course the president of the United States knows he has the power to do this, and I assume the president would move very, very rapidly.”
But on Saturday, the president stunned the world by halting his push toward military action in Syria and announced that he would seek approval from Congress to use force. House and Senate leaders have said they will debate, and votes are expected after Sept. 9, when lawmakers return to the capital from their August recess. Some senators suggested on Saturday that they might return early and begin debate next weekend. Mr. Kerry said on Sunday that the president believed Congressional backing was necessary to send a message to nations like Iran and North Korea, which are pursuing nuclear weapons. He also invoked American interests in protecting Israel, Jordan and other allies in the Middle East. He suggested Congress cannot “have it both ways” by demanding a say in the decision and then refusing to uphold the convention against the use of chemical weapons.
For the president, the decision is a gamble. “Congress has a responsibility here, too,” Mr. Kerry said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He added: “Iran will read importantly what we decide to do with respect to the enforcement of this convention in Syria. Israel is at risk. Jordan is at risk. Turkey is at risk. The region is at risk, and we believe the Congress of the United States will do what is responsible.”
If Congress rejects him, as the British Parliament rejected Prime Minister David Cameron last week, he will become the first president in modern times to lose a vote on the use of force. And the very act of seeking Congressional approval could circumscribe his authority as commander in chief, setting a precedent that could limit his ability, and that of future presidents, to make military decisions as they see fit. Securing Arab League support for a potential American attack has become an important element of the Obama administration’s plan to try to win Congressional support. Mr. Kerry has been in touch with his Saudi counterpart and the leader of the Syrian opposition regarding a meeting scheduled for Sunday night in Cairo.
Representative Peter King, Republican of New York and a former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that if Mr. Obama wanted approval from Congress, he should have called lawmakers back to Washington for a special session. The American administration’s hope is that a statement of support from the Arab League can make up for the British Parliament’s decision on Thursday not to join any American-led attack. Such a statement would enable the administration to argue to Congress that it has strong regional support for a potential strike. Mr. Obama was caught off guard last week when the Parliament, in a stinging rebuke to Prime Minister David Cameron, said it would not back a strike.
“This is a clear failure of leadership,” Mr. King said on Fox News. One critical question that has been raised by Mr. Obama’s turnabout is what effect the delay might have if the United States eventually used force.
Mr. King said that if the House had to vote today, it would decide against authorizing military action because of the “isolationist wing.” But he expressed hope that the Obama administration might yet persuade the House to support the action. Jack Keane, the former vice chief of staff of the Army, and other military experts have argued that time can work to Mr. Assad’s advantage as the Syrian forces will have more opportunities to disperse, hunker down and move their assets into civilian areas that they know will not be struck.
Senator James M. Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, said he did not believe that Congress would authorize a military strike. Mr. Inhofe said he was not in favor of a military response because it might lead to a broader conflict and the United States military had been weakened by budget cuts. By waiting for Congress, Mr. Obama risks more horrific news from Syria, which could make him look weak. Former Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut expressed concern on Sunday that Mr. Assad would also use the delay to protect his forces.
But Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, said he agreed with Mr. Obama’s argument that the action would send a tougher message if it was done with Congressional support. “While we are waiting, he is dispersing his critical assets,” he said on Fox News.
“The president made the right decision,” Mr. Reed said. Congress could also vote down Mr. Obama's request, which would make him the first president in modern times to lose a vote seeking authorization for the use of force. Also speaking on Fox News, Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York and a former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that if a vote in the House were held today, Mr. Obama would likely lose as a result of the “isolationist wing.”
The House and Senate are expected to vote sometime after they return, although Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, said he would begin hearings this week. Speaking on Saturday night, after Mr. Obama delivered his statement in the Rose Garden, Mr. Reid called a strike against Syria “justified and necessary.”
Republicans, though, seem deeply divided. Some, like the House speaker, John A. Boehner, have praised the president for seeking backing in Congress. But Mr. King argues that Mr. Obama is undermining his authority as commander in chief, and said that if the president wants approval from Congress, he should call lawmakers back to Washington for a special session.
“This is a clear failure of leadership,” Mr. King said.