Syrian Chemical Weapons Revisted

Syrian Chemicals Weapons Revisited.

On it goes with the Syrian chemical weapons crisis.  President Obama has spoken to the nation to try to gain support for a strategic strike to  degrade the Syrian capacity to carry out chemical attacks in the future.   He promises the strike would be solely for that purpose and would not involve any boots on the ground.  A majority of the Congress and the American people  do not support the strike.  A vote in the Congress would be required to authorize the action.  Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that military action against the Syrian government without U.N. Security Council approval "is unacceptable under the U.N. charter and would constitute an act of aggression."

After months of blocking U.N. action against Syria, Russia reversed itself by proposing that Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons be put under international control.  Syria has agreed to a Russian plan to give up its weapons.  Both the U.S. and Russia are committed to a negotiated solution.  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad demands that the U.S. call off any potential strike on Syrian government  forces before he will give up chemical weapons.  President Obama has asked Congress to delay voting on authorization of a military strike.  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry states that the threat of  a U.S. military strike remains on the table if Syria does not hand over its stockpile.

Secretary Kerry and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov  announced  that while negotiating a solution of the chemical weapons crisis they would like to restart talks on ending the Syrian Civil War.  Any agreements must be comprehensive, verifiable, credible, and able to be implemented in a timely fashion.   There ought to be consequences if it does not take place. 

So it would seem President Obama has backed off, at least for now.  Diplomacy has been given another chance.  Nations are coming together to negotiate a solution.  So, while there is still tension and a lot at stake, we have the potential to diffuse the situation and resume work on   ending the Syrian Civil War.   That would be the ideal ultimate outcome.