Saturday, September 14, 2013

BREAKING U.S., Russia Reach Agreement On Syria

WaPo reports:
The United States and Russia agreed Saturday on an outline for the identification and seizure of Syrian chemical weapons and said Syria must turn over an accounting of its arsenal within a week.

The agreement will be backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution that could allow for sanctions or other consequences if Syria fails to comply, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said.

Kerry said that the first international inspection of Syrian chemical weapons will take place by November, with destruction to begin next year.

Senior administration officials had said Friday the Obama administration would not press for U.N. authorization to use force against Syria if it reneges on any agreement to give up its chemical weapons.

The Russians had made clear in talks here between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kerry that the negotiations could not proceed under the threat of a U.N. resolution authorizing a military strike. Russia also wanted assurances that a resolution would not refer Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court for possible war-crimes prosecution.

Bottom line: This really is about the American people objecting to an attack on Syria and President Putin throwing President Obama a lifeline in the chaos. The people, for good or bad, can have influence when they care.

3 comments:

  1. I believe this makes the next debt ceiling debate far more interesting. Coming to a theater near you on Oct 18
    http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/10/news/economy/debt-ceiling-bills-coming-due/index.html

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  2. "The people, for good or bad, can have influence when they care." - don't be naive. Se my comment on the last Syria story.

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    Replies
    1. ....or you could be a good commenter and just post a link to it in this comment.

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