WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry asserted Sunday
that the United States now has evidence of sarin gas use in Syria and said
"the case gets stronger by the day" for a military attack.
A day after President Barack Obama stepped back from his
threat to launch an attack, Kerry said in a series of interviews on the Sunday
news shows that the administration learned of the sarin use within the past 24
hours through samples of hair and blood provided to Washington by first
responders in Damascus.
"So this case is building and this case will
build," Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Kerry also said he was confident that Congress will give
Obama its backing for an attack against Syria, but the former Massachusetts
senator also said the president has authority to act on his own if Congress
doesn't give its approval.
While Kerry stopped short of saying Obama was committed to
such a course even if lawmakers refuse to authorize force, he did say that "we are not going to
lose this vote."
Kerry said Obama has the right to take action against Syria,
with or without Congress' approval. But he stopped short of saying Obama was
committed to such a course even if lawmakers refuse to authorize force.
Congress is scheduled to return from a summer break on Sept.
9.
GOP Rep. Peter King of New York, who criticized Obama for
not proceeding immediately against Assad, said the president may have trouble
winning the backing of Congress.
"I think it is going to be difficult," said King,
a member of the House Intelligence Committee, adding that there is an
"isolationist" tendency in his GOP caucus.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he thinks the Senate "will
rubber-stamp what he wants but I think the House will be a much closer
vote." Paul said he believes "it's at least 50-50 whether the House
will vote down involvement in the Syrian war."
But Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence
Committee, called the evidence, including the fresh finding on sarin gas,
"convincing and getting better." Rogers, R-Mich., predicted that
"at the end of the day, Congress will rise to the occasion," but he
also said "it's going to take that healthy debate to get there."
"This isn't about Barack Obama versus the Congress.
This isn't about Republicans versus Democrats. This has a very important
worldwide reach in this decision."
Obama, who has talked repeatedly of U.S. reprisals against
President Bashar Assad for the alleged use of chemical weapons against his own
people in Syria's protracted civil war, announced Saturday that he had decided
to defer any immediate action in order to seek a congressional authorization.
"The case hasn't changed and the case doesn't change at
all. The rationale for a military response is as powerful today" as it has
been, Kerry said.
"This case is going to build stronger and
stronger," he said. But he also said he thinks "the people of America
should be celebrating that the president is not acting unilaterally."
Kerry maintained there is no weakness in the U.S. case
underscoring Obama's about-face, saying instead that "the president
believes that we are all stronger as a nation when we act together."
The secretary said that Assad "has now joined the list
of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein" in deploying chemical weapons against
his population and that "the case remains the same" for a U.S.
response. Kerry echoed Obama in saying the world cannot stand by and watch
Assad use chemical weapons.
Asked if the U.S. obtained its new information from U.N.
weapons inspectors who had visited Syria, Kerry responded, "No, it is
independent. ... But it is confirmation of the signatures of sarin."
"In the last 24 hours," he said, "we have
learned through samples that were provided to the United States, that have now
been tested, from first responders in east Damascus, and hair samples and blood
samples have tested positive for signatures of sarin."
He was asked repeatedly what Obama would do in the event
that Congress refuses to give its consent, Kerry said, "The president has
taken his decision."
"I think this is a smart decision by the president. ...
He is not trying to create an imperial presidency," Kerry added. "I
believe that in the end, Congress will do what is right."
Administration officials have said that Obama appeared set
on ordering a strike until Friday evening. After a long walk in near 90-degree
temperatures around the White House grounds with Chief of Staff Denis
McDonough, the president told his aide he had changed his mind.
These officials said Saturday that Obama initially drew
pushback in a two-hour session attended by Vice President Joe Biden, Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel, Director of National Intelligence James Klapper, CIA
Director John Brennan, national security adviser Susan Rice and homeland
security adviser Lisa Monaco. They declined to say which of the participants
had argued against Obama's proposal.
Kerry appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," CNN's
"State of the Union," CBS' "Face the Nation," "Fox
News Sunday" and ABC's "This Week." Paul was on NBC, Rogers was
on CNN and King was on Fox.
Source: HuffPost
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