DAMASCUS, Syria
(AP) -- A Syrian state-run newspaper on Sunday called President
Barack Obama's decision to seek congressional approval before taking
military action against Syria "the start of the historic American
retreat."
The gloating tone in the front-page
article in the Al-Thawra daily followed Obama's unexpected announcement
on Saturday that he would ask Congress to support a strike punishing the
President Bashar Assad's regime for the alleged use of chemical
weapons. The decision marked a stark turnabout for the White House,
which had appeared on the verge of ordering U.S. forces to launch a
missile attack against Syria.
"Whether the
Congress lights the red or green light for an aggression, and whether
the prospects of war have been enhanced or faded, President Obama has
announced yesterday, by prevaricating or hinting, the start of the
historic American retreat," Al-Thawra said.
The
paper, which as a government outlet reflects regime thinking, also
claimed that Obama's reluctance to take military action stems from his
"sense of implicit defeat and the disappearance of his allies." The
daily said the American leader worries about limited intervention
turning into "an open war has pushed him to seek Congress' consent."
Syria's minister for reconciliation issues, Ali Haidar, echoed that line.
"Obama
has given himself a chance to take a step backward by talking about
Congress' approval and to search for other parties to participate in the
attack," Haidar told The Associated Press by telephone. "In other
words, he wants to keep brandishing the sword of aggression on Syria
without fully giving up the idea of an attack and even without setting a
definite date for the aggression."
The U.S.
Navy moved warships over the past week into the eastern Mediterranean as
the Obama administration considered its options. With everything in
place, Obama said Saturday that he had decided the U.S. should take
military action and that he believes that he has the authority as
commander-in-chief to "carry out this military action without specific
congressional authorization."
But he added
that he believes the U.S. "will be stronger" if he takes his case to
Congress for its nod of approval before taking action.
Congress
is scheduled to return from a summer break on Sept. 9, and in
anticipation of the coming debate, Obama challenged lawmakers to
consider "what message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of
children to death in plain sight and pay no price."
The
White House has sent Congress a draft of a resolution seeking approval
for a military response to "deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade" the
Assad regime's ability to use chemical weapons going forward. The Senate
will hold hearings next week so a vote can take place after Congress
gets back to work.
The president's strategy
carries enormous risks to his and the nation's credibility, which the
administration has argued forcefully is on the line in Syria. Obama long
ago said the use of chemical weapons was a "red line" that Assad would
not be allowed to cross with impunity.
Britain's
prime minister, David Cameron, charted a similar course last week by
asking the House of Commons to support military action against Syria,
only to suffer a stinging defeat.
Across the
Atlantic, Obama's choice has sparked calls for French President Francois
Hollande, who has backed calls for an armed response against Syria, to
seek parliamentary approval before taking military action. Hollande is
not constitutionally required to do so. France's parliament is scheduled
to debate the issue Wednesday, but no vote is scheduled
For
some in Syria's opposition who had put great hope in U.S. strikes,
Obama's decision was a source of despair. For others, it was seen as
simply business as usual from a country that they say has done nothing
to halt the massive trauma and bloodshed gripping Syria.
"We
weren't putting too much hope in the U.S strike," said Mohammed
al-Tayeb, an opposition activist in Eastern Ghouta. "America was never a
friend of ours, they're still an enemy."
In
the buildup to the potential strikes, the opposition and Damascus
residents say the Assad regime moved it troops and military equipment
out of bases to civilian areas.
The main
Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, said in a
statement Sunday that the army repositioned rocket launchers, artillery
and other heavy weapons inside residential neighborhoods in cities
nationwide.
Two Damascus residents the AP
spoke with confirmed the regime troop movements. One woman said soldiers
had moved into a school next to her house and she was terrified.
With
U.S. strikes no longer looming, the U.N. probe into the attack has at
least a week and a half to analyze samples it took during on-site
investigations before the specter of military action comes yet again to
the fore.
The head of the U.N. team, Swedish
professor Ake Sellstrom, is to brief U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
later Sunday. The group of experts collected biological and
environmental samples during their visits to the rebel-held Damascus
suburbs that were hit in the Aug. 21 attack.
The
inspectors left Syria on Saturday and arrived in The Hague,
Netherlands. The samples they collected in Syria are to be repackaged
and sent to laboratories around Europe to check them for traces of
poison gas. The U.N. says there is no specific timeline for when their
analysis will be completed.
There are widely
varying death tolls from the suspected toxic gas attack. The aid group
Doctors Without Borders says at least 355 people were killed, while the
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring groups says
it has identified 502 victims by name. A U.S. intelligence assessment
says the attack killed 1,429 civilians, including more than 400
children.
In Cairo, Arab League foreign
ministers were to hold an emergency session Sunday evening to discuss
Syria. Last week, the 22-nation bloc condemned the Aug. 21 attack
outside Damascus but said it does not support military action without
U.N. consent.
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Lucas reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Yasmine Saker in Beirut contributed to this report.
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