Reuters/Washington
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President Barack Obama called the apparent gassing of hundreds of Syrian civilians a “big event of grave concern” but stressed yesterday he was in no rush to embroil Americans in a costly new war.
As opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad braved the frontlines around Damascus to smuggle out tissue samples from victims of Wednesday’s mass poisoning, Obama brushed over an interviewer’s reminder that he once called chemical weapons a “red line” that could trigger US action.
A White House spokesman reiterated Obama’s position that he did not expect to have “boots on the ground” in Syria.
Obama’s caution contrasted with calls for action from Nato allies, including France, Britain and Turkey, where leaders saw little doubt Assad’s forces had staged pre-dawn missile strikes that rebels say killed between 500 and well over 1,000 people.
But two years into a civil war that has divided the Middle East along sectarian lines, a split between Western governments and Russia once again illustrated the international deadlock that has thwarted outside efforts to halt the killing.
While the West accused Assad of a cover-up by preventing the UN team from visiting the scene, Moscow said the rebels were impeding an investigation.
The UN released data showing that a million children were among refugees forced to flee Syria, calling it a “shameful milestone”. And mosque bombings that left at least 42 dead and hundreds wounded in neighbouring Lebanon were a reminder of how Syria’s conflict has spread. But, for now, there seems little prospect of an end to the violence.
According to security sources, US and allied intelligence agencies have made a preliminary assessment that Syrian government forces did use chemical weapons in the attack this week and that the act likely had high-level approval from President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Obama played down the chances of Assad co-operating with the UN experts who might provide conclusive evidence of what happened, if given access soon.
Noting budget constraints, problems of international law and a continuing US casualty toll in Afghanistan, Obama told CNN: “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, can result in us being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region.
“The US continues to be the one country that people expect can do more than just simply protect their borders. But that does not mean that we have to get involved with everything immediately,” he said, reflecting long-standing wariness to follow the example of his predecessor, George W Bush, and his ultimately unpopular ventures in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“We have to think through strategically what’s going to be in our long-term national interests.”
Asked about his comment - made a year and a day before the toxic fumes hit sleeping residents of rebel-held Damascus suburbs - that chemical weapons would be a “red line” for the US, he replied: “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.”
Russia and China have vetoed UN Security Council moves against Assad in the past and oppose military action.
Gas attack survivors may have life-long disabilities
Even those who survived the suspected chemical weapons attack in Damascus - and many hundreds didn’t - may have life-long disabilities and health problems for which there are few effective treatments. The death toll from the incident could well rise in coming days as doctors and other health workers who suffered secondary exposure via the direct victims start to succumb to the agent’s poison.