-
President
Obama says that evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria "is very
troublesome," but the United States needs to investigate and carefully
"think through" its response.When it comes to challenges in Syria -- as well as Egypt -- the United States must assess its "long term national interests" before acting, Obama told CNN in an interview taped Thursday night.
The United States should not act precipitously and possibly make things worse, he said, also noting that "we've still got a war going on in Afghanistan."
Referring to video of a possible chemical weapons attack against Syrian rebels, Obama told CNN that "what we've seen indicates that this is clearly a big event of grave concern." He said the United States and allies are investigating and will seek to develop a unified response.
The president is also weighing a cut-off of aid to Egypt's interim government over its violent crackdown on supporters of former President Mohammed Morsi.
As with Syria, the United States must make a careful response in Egypt, Obama said: "We have to be very careful about being seen as aiding and abetting actions that we think run contrary to our values and our ideals."
The United States remains the world's "indispensable nation," Obama said, but "that does not mean that we have to get involved with everything immediately.
"We have to think through strategically what's going to be in our long-term national interests, even as we work cooperatively internationally to do everything we can to put pressure on those who would kill innocent civilians," Obama said.
Obama made apparent references to the Iraq war in arguing that the United States should avoid getting "drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region."
Said Obama: "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."
The president spoke with CNN during a two-day bus tour of New York and Pennsylvania, a trip devoted to the high costs of college education.
Obama also told CNN:
-- He is working to re-assure people that National Security Agency surveillance programs protect privacy.
"There's no doubt that, for all the work that's been done to protect the American people's privacy, the capabilities of the NSA are scary to people," Obama said. "What I recognize is that we're going to have to continue to improve the safeguards. And as technology moves forward, that means that we may be able to build technologies that give people more assurance."
-- That a government shutdown or another standoff with congressional Republicans over the debt ceiling would be bad for the economy.
"There is nobody out there who thinks that us not paying bills we've already racked up is good for the economy (or) is appropriate," Obama said. "Nobody thinks that. So why are we even talking about?"
A government shutdown would be "bad for not just people who work for the government, but all the contractors ... and the defense folks and everybody who is impacted by the services that they receive from the federal government," Obama said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/08/23/obama-cnn-middle-east-egypt-syria-college-costs/2690761/
23/8/13
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Obama: Syria chemical weapon claim a 'grave concern'...
ReplyDeleteUS President Barack Obama has said the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria in an attack on Wednesday is a "big event of grave concern".
Mr Obama said the US was still seeking confirmation such weapons were used, but if proved true the situation would "require America's attention".
Meanwhile, Syria's main ally Russia has said there is growing evidence that Syrian rebels were behind the attack.....http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23809409
23/8/13
White House repeats Obama position of no US troops in Syria...
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama and his advisers are still studying how to respond to an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria, but the White House reiterated the president's position on Friday that he did not expect to send troops to the country.
Obama has said several times he did not expect to have "boots on the ground" in Syria.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest repeated that comment to reporters traveling with Obama on a bus tour of New York and Pennsylvania.
Washington's assistance to Syrian opposition fighters was on an "upward trajectory" that was expanding in scope and scale, Earnest added.
Voice of Russia, Reuters
http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_08_23/White-House-repeats-Obama-position-of-no-US-troops-in-Syria-8732/
23/8/13
Συρία: Η Δύση καταλήγει ότι έχει υπάρξει χρήση χημικών με έγκριση του Ασαντ...Συμφωνούν οι εμπειρογνώμονες σε ΗΠΑ και Ευρώπη...
ReplyDeleteΟι συριακές κυβερνητικές δυνάμεις έκαναν χρήση χημικών όπλων σε περιοχή κοντά στη Δαμασκό αυτή την εβδομάδα, αναφέρει η πρώτη εκτίμηση των μυστικών υπηρεσιών των ΗΠΑ και ευρωπαϊκών χωρών.
Η χρήση αυτή είχε πιθανότατα την έγκριση της κυβέρνησης Άσαντ, προσθέτουν.
Οι πηγές αμερικανικών και ευρωπαϊκών υπηρεσιών ασφαλείας τονίζουν ότι οι εκτιμήσεις αυτές είναι αρχικές και ότι αναζητώνται ακόμα αδιαμφισβήτητα στοιχεία για το εάν έγινε όντως χρήση χημικών όπλων.
Προσθέτουν ότι αυτή η διαδικασία μπορεί να διαρκέσει ημέρες, εβδομάδες ή και περισσότερο.
Εν τω μεταξύ, πιέσεις ασκεί ο ΟΗΕ για την διεξαγωγή επιτόπιας έρευνας στο σημείο που η αντιπολίτευση καταγγέλλει επίθεση με χημικά όπλα.
Η επικεφαλής του ΟΗΕ για τον αφοπλισμό, Άνγκελα Κάνε, φτάνει το Σάββατο στη Δαμασκό, προκειμένου να πιέσει την κυβέρνηση Άσαντ να επιτρέψει στους εμπειρογνώμονες του ΟΗΕ την πρόσβαση στο σημείο που η αντιπολίτευση καταγγέλλει επίθεση με χημικά όπλα.
«Εξονυχιστική, αμερόληπτη και τάχιστη έρευνα» ζητά και ο Μπαν Γκι-μουν, ενώ η αντιπολίτευση δηλώνει ότι θα εγγυηθεί την ασφάλεια των ειδικών του ΟΗΕ.
«Είναι ζωτικής σημασίας να φθάσουν εκεί (στο σημείο της επίθεσης) οι επιθεωρητές μέσα σε ένα 48ωρο» δήλωσε σε δημοσιογράφους στην Κωνσταντινούπολη ο Χάλεντ Σάλεχ, εκπρόσωπος Τύπου του Συριακού Εθνικού Συνασπισμού της αντιπολίτευσης.
Μάλιστα, η αντιπολίτευση δηλώνει ότι πήρε δείγματα από τα θύματα της επίθεσης, προκειμένου να σταλούν εκτός Συρίας για να εξεταστούν από ειδικούς.
«Τα πήραμε και τα στείλαμε εκτός Συρίας» είπε ο γενικός γραμματέας του Συριακού Εθνικού Συνασπισμού Μπαντρ Τζάμους, μιλώντας στο πρακτορείο Reuters από την Κωνσταντινούπολη. Ο Τζάμους απέφυγε, πάντως, να διευκρινίσει πού έχουν σταλεί τα δείγματα αυτά.
Την ίδια ώρα, απρόθυμος εμφανίζεται ο Μπαράκ Ομπάμα να εμπλακεί σε πόλεμο στη Συρία.
«Γεγονός βαθιάς ανησυχίας» χαρακτηρίζει ο Μπαράκ Ομπάμα την καταγγελλόμενη χρήση χημικών όπλων στη Συρία, επισημαίνει όμως πως δεν θα βιαστεί να εμπλέξει την Αμερική σε έναν δαπανηρό νέο πόλεμο.
Ο Μπαράκ Ομπάμα έχει δηλώσει πολλές φορές ότι δεν σχεδιάζει να στείλει στρατεύματα στη Συρία.
Τη δήλωση αυτή επανέλαβε την Παρασκευή ο εκπρόσωπος του Λευκού Οίκου, Τζος Έρνεστ, τονίζοντας, παράλληλα, ότι η βοήθεια στους Σύρους αντάρτες βρίσκεται σε «ανοδική πορεία» και επεκτείνεται σε πεδίο και κλίμακα.
http://www.tovima.gr/world/article/?aid=527192
23/8/13
Obama's national security team to meet on Syria this weekend: official...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's security advisers will convene at the White House this weekend to discuss U.S. options, including possible military action, against the Syrian government over an apparent chemical weapons attack earlier this week, a U.S. official said on Friday.
If Obama takes part in the high-level meeting as appears likely, it would be his first full-scale session with top foreign policy aides since Wednesday's mass poisoning in a Damascus suburb.
But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, cautioned against expecting that any final decision might come out of this next round of discussions.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter Cooney and Bill Trott)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/24/us-syria-crisis-nsc-idUSBRE97N02120130824?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
23/8/13
US readies possible missile strike against Syria - report...
ReplyDeleteDespite President Obama cautioning against intervention in Syria, the Pentagon is making “initial preparations” for a cruise missile attack on Syrian government forces, according to a new report.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey is expected to present options for such a strike at a White House meeting on Saturday, CBS News reported on Friday.
US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel suggested Friday naval forces are moving in position closer to Syria in case Obama chooses action.
"The Defense Department has a responsibility to provide the president with options for contingencies, and that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options — whatever options the president might choose," Hagel said, adding a decision must be made quickly given “there may be another (chemical) attack.”
Meanwhile, a defense official, cited by Reuters, said on Friday the US Navy was expanding its Mediterranean presence with a fourth cruise-missile ship, the USS Mahan. Though the source stressed to Reuters the Navy did not have orders to prepare for military operations against Syria.
The ship was due to head back to the United States, but the commander of the US Sixth Fleet decided to maintain the ship in the region.
All four ships are capable of launching long-range, subsonic cruise missiles to reach land targets.
President Barack Obama is under renewed pressure to take action following the emergence of footage of what appears to be the aftermath of a toxic agent attack in a Damascus suburb on Wednesday. The forces of President Bashar Assad were assaulting a rebel stronghold in the district at the time, but deny responsibility. Moscow, which has maintained close ties with the regime, called the incident a rebel “provocation” possibly designed to derail upcoming Geneva peace talks.
Though the Pentagon will present plans for potential action on Saturday, as CBS reported, President Obama has final say on any further developments.
Questioned on the continuing upheaval in Syria and Egypt during a CNN interview Friday, Obama said the United States should be wary of “being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region.”
Obama went on to express reservations for becoming involved in the 30-month Syrian conflict due to a lack of international consensus.
"If the US goes in and attacks another country without a UN mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, [and] do we have the coalition to make it work?” said Obama.
Despite his cautious tone, Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice said via Twitter, “What is Bashar al Assad hiding? The world is demanding an independent investigation of Wednesday’s apparent CW attack. Immediately.”
Adding to the rhetoric in Washington, Sen. John McCain said that if the administration was to “let this go on,” it was “writing a blank check to other brutal dictators around the world if they want to use chemical weapons."
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee also spoke out in support of a strike in Syria, writing to Obama of the need to respond to the latest alleged outrage.
"If we, in concert with our allies, do not respond to Assad's murderous uses of weapons of mass destruction, malevolent countries and bad actors around the world will see a green light where one was never intended," Rep. Eliot Engel wrote on Friday....http://rt.com/news/us-missile-attack-syria-929/
24/8/13
Air War in Kosovo Seen as Precedent in Possible Response to Syria Chemical Attack...
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON — As President Obama weighs options for responding to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, his national security aides are studying the NATO air war in Kosovo as a possible blueprint for acting without a mandate from the United Nations.
With Russia still likely to veto any military action in the Security Council, the president appears to be wrestling with whether to bypass the United Nations, although he warned that doing so would require a robust international coalition and legal justification.
“If the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, do we have the coalition to make it work?” Mr. Obama said on Friday to CNN, in his first public comments after the deadly attack on Wednesday.
Mr. Obama described the attack as “clearly a big event of grave concern” and acknowledged that the United States had limited time to respond. But he said United Nations investigators needed to determine whether chemical weapons had been used.
Kosovo is an obvious precedent for Mr. Obama because, as in Syria, civilians were killed and Russia had longstanding ties to the government authorities accused of the abuses. In 1999, President Bill Clinton used the endorsement of NATO and the rationale of protecting a vulnerable population to justify 78 days of airstrikes....http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/world/air-war-in-kosovo-seen-as-precedent-in-possible-response-to-syria-chemical-attack.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&
23/8/13
Syria: Chuck Hagel suggests US is marshalling military forces...
ReplyDeleteUS defence secretary says his department is providing Barack Obama with 'options for all contingencies'.
The US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, strongly suggested on Friday the United States was positioning naval forces and assets in anticipation of any decision by President Barack Obama to order military action against Syria after apparent chemical weapons use.
Hagel's comments to reporters traveling with him to Malaysia came after a defence official said the Navy would expand its presence in the Mediterranean with a fourth cruise-missile armed warship because of the escalating civil war in Syria.
Hagel said Obama had asked the defence department for options on Syria, where an apparent poison gas attack has mounted pressure on the United States to intervene.
"The defence department has responsibility to provide the president with options for all contingencies," he said. "And that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options – whatever options the president might choose."
Asked whether it was fair to report that the United States had moved assets, Hagel said: "I don't think I said that. I said that we're always having to prepare – as we give the president options – prepare our assets and where they are and the capability of those assets to carry out the contingencies we give the president."
The defence official, who was not authorised to speak publicly, said the USS Mahan had finished its deployment and was due to head back to its home base in Norfolk, Virginia, but the commander of the US Sixth Fleet has decided to keep the ship in the region.
The official stressed the Navy had received no orders to prepare for any military operations in connection with Syria.....http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/24/syria-hagel-us-marshalling-forces
24/8/13
La marine américaine renforce sa présence en Méditerranée...
ReplyDeleteL'US Navy a décidé de maintenir en Méditerranée l'USS Mahan, un navire qui devait initialement retourner à son port d'attache, renforçant ainsi sa présence dans la région après de nouvelles allégations d'utilisation d'armes chimiques en Syrie. Au total, quatre destroyers de la VIe flotte américaine – le Gravely, le Barry, le Mahan et le Ramage – tous équipés de plusieurs dizaines de missiles de croisière Tomahawk, croiseront dans les eaux méditerranéennes, contre trois habituellement.
Le rôle du Pentagone est "de fournir au président toutes les options pour faire face à toutes les éventualités" a expliqué le ministre de la défense Chuck Hagel, se refusant à toute précision sur les moyens militaires en question. La présence des quatre destroyers ne signifie pas qu'une décision d'intervention a été prise contre le régime de Bachar Al-Assad, a-t-il souligné.
Ce renfort permettrait néanmoins aux militaires d'agir plus rapidement si Barack Obama leur en donnait l'ordre. Un scénario très improbable pour le moment. "Des gens réclament une action immédiate. (Mais) se précipiter pour faire des choses qui tourneraient mal, nous embourber dans des situations très difficiles, peut nous entraîner dans des interventions très compliquées et coûteuses qui ne feraient qu'alimenter encore le ressentiment dans la région", a argumenté le président américain lors d'un entretien vendredi sur CNN.
Un avis partagé par le plus haut gradé et principal conseiller militaire de Barack Obama, le général Martin Dempsey. En juillet, ce dernier avait présenté au président de la commission de la défense du Sénat toute une série d'options militaires, notamment l'établissement d'une zone d'exclusion aérienne ou une opération destinée à neutraliser les nombreux sites d'armes chimiques syriennes. Pour chacune d'elles, le gradé avait insisté sur le coût financier et humain de l'opération.
En cas d'attaque, la doctrine américaine prévoit généralement dès le début l'utilisation de missiles de croisière pour "ouvrir la porte" et se débarrasser notamment des défenses anti-aériennes ennemies. Lors du premier jour du conflit en Libye, des navires et sous-marins américains, ainsi qu'un sous-marin britannique avaient ainsi lancé une première vague d'environ 110 missiles Tomahawk sur le pays.
http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2013/08/24/la-marine-americaine-renforce-sa-presence-en-mediterranee_3465825_3222.html#ens_id=1481132&xtor=RSS-3208
24/8/13
Syrien-Krise- USA bereiten sich auf möglichen Militär-Einsatz vor...
ReplyDeleteDie USA bringen ihre Truppen für ein eventuelles Eingreifen in Syrien in Stellung. Sollte sich Präsident Obama für einen Militärschlag entscheiden, seinen laut US-Verteidigungsminister Hagel mehrere Optionen vorbereitet.
WashingtonDie USA bereiten sich auf die Möglichkeit eines militärischen Eingriffs in Syrien vor. US-Verteidigungsminister Chuck Hagel erklärte, sein Ministerium trage Verantwortung dafür, Präsident Barack Obama den nötigen Spielraum für verschiedene Handlungsmöglichkeiten zu verschaffen. "Und dies erfordert die Positionierung unserer Truppen, damit sie verschiedene Optionen ausführen können - welche Optionen auch immer der Präsident auswählen wird", ergänzte Hagel vor Journalisten auf einer Reise nach Malaysia....http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/syrien-krise-usa-bereiten-sich-auf-moeglichen-militaer-einsatz-vor/8687172.html
24/8/13
Militärisches Eingreifen in Syrien?...Die USA sind bereit...
ReplyDeleteIn den USA wird über einen möglicherweise bevorstehenden militärischen Eingriff in Syrien diskutiert. Mehrere Optionen seien für den Fall vorbereitet worden, dass sich US-Präsident Barack Obama für einen Militärschlag gegen die Führung in Damaskus entscheiden sollte, sagte Verteidigungsminister Chuck Hagel gegenüber Journalisten an Bord eines Flugs nach Malaysia. Sein Ministerium trage Verantwortung dafür, Obama den nötigen Spielraum für verschiedene Handlungsmöglichkeiten zu verschaffen.
Der US-Präsident hatte den Einsatz von Giftgas als "rote Linie" bezeichnet und steht deshalb unter wachsendem Druck, in den Konflikt einzugreifen. In einem Interview hatte er sich jedoch zurückhaltend zu den Konsequenzen des angeblichen Giftgasangriffs geäußert. Am Wochenende sind Gespräche mit seinen Sicherheitsberatern über Militäroptionen geplant.
Druck aus der Partei auf Obama...http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/syrien2958.html
24/8/13
For Obama, world looks different from expected...
ReplyDeleteArab Spring upheavals have played havoc with the ‘new beginning’ the president promised in Cairo in 2009.
Nearly five years into his presidency, Barack Obama confronts a world far different from what he envisioned when he first took office. US influence is declining in the Middle East as violence and instability rock Arab countries. An ambitious attempt to reset US relations with Russia faltered and failed. Even in Obama-friendly Europe, there’s deep skepticism about Washington’s government surveillance programs.
In some cases, the current climate has been driven by factors outside the White House’s control. But missteps by the president also are to blame, say foreign policy analysts, including some who worked for the Obama administration.
Among them: miscalculating the fallout from the Arab Spring uprisings, publicly setting unrealistic expectations for improved ties with Russia and a reactive decision-making process that can leave the White House appearing to veer from crisis to crisis without a broader strategy.
Rosa Brooks, a former Defense Department official who left the administration in 2011, said that while the shrinking US leverage overseas predates the current president, “Obama has sometimes equated ‘we have no leverage’ with ‘there’s no point to really doing anything.’”
Obama, faced most urgently with escalating crises in Egypt and Syria, has defended his measured approach, saying America’s ability to solve the world’s problems on its own has been “overstated.”
“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,” he said. “We have to think through strategically what’s going to be in our long-term national interests.”
The strongest challenge to Obama’s philosophy on intervention has come from the deepening tumult in the Middle East and North Africa. The president saw great promise in the region when he first took office and pledged “a new beginning” with the Arab world when he traveled to Cairo in 2009.......http://www.timesofisrael.com/for-obama-world-looks-different-from-expected/
26/8/13