Friday 11 July 2014

Cameron addresses the House of Commons on Thursday.

UK says no to Syria strikes as US mulls actions

London, August 30, 2013

Britain will not join any military action against Syria after a stunning parliamentary defeat on Thursday of a government motion on the issue, dealing a setback to US-led efforts to punish Damascus over the use of chemical weapons against civilians.

Following a 285-272 vote against a motion by British Prime Minister David Cameron to authorize a military response in principle, British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed Britain would not be involved in any action against Syria.



US officials suggested President Barack Obama would be willing to proceed with limited actions against Syria even without specific promises of allied support because US national security interests are at stake.

"President Obama's decision-making will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States," White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement after the British vote.


US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington would continue seeking out an international coalition to act together on Syria.

"It is the goal of President Obama and our government ... whatever decision is taken, that it be an international collaboration and effort," Hagel said during a trip to the Philippines, adding the United States would continue to consult with Britain.

In a briefing with senior lawmakers on Thursday, Obama administration officials said they had "no doubt" chemical weapons were used in Syria and that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government had used them, US Representative Eliot Engel, who participated in the call, told Reuters.


Asked by Labour leader Ed Miliband whether he would promise not to circumvent parliament and authorize military action, Cameron said: "I can give that assurance. I strongly believe in the need for a tough response to the use of chemical weapons, but I also believe in respecting the will of this House of Commons."


In comments before the parliamentary vote, a White House spokesman said the United States had been encouraged by the support voiced by a wide variety of world leaders, such as the Arab League, on the need for a response to Syria's use of chemical weapons.

US officials conceded on Thursday they lacked conclusive evidence that Assad personally ordered last week's poison gas attack, and some allies have warned that military action without UN Security Council authorization risks making the situation worse.

On the call with lawmakers, administration officials, including Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry, cited evidence of chemical weapons use including "intercepted communications from high-level Syrian officials," and seeing personnel being moved around Damascus, said Engel, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.





Syrian opposition sources said Assad's forces had removed several Scud missiles and dozens of launchers from a base north of Damascus, possibly to protect them from a Western attack, and Russia was reported to be moving ships into the region.

Expectations of imminent turmoil eased as the diplomatic process was seen playing out into next week, and the White House emphasized that any action would be "very discrete and limited," and in no way comparable to the Iraq war.

The United States and its allies have "no smoking gun" proving Assad personally ordered the attack on a rebel-held Damascus neighborhood in which hundreds of people were killed, U.S. national security officials said.



The United Nations said its team of inspectors would leave Syria on Saturday and report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

France and Germany urged the world body to pass its report on to the decision-making Security Council as soon as possible "so that it can fulfill its responsibility with regards to this monstrous crime."




The ambassadors of the five veto-wielding permanent Security Council members appeared to have made no progress at a meeting on Thursday, a council diplomat said. The five - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - had held an inconclusive meeting on Wednesday to discuss a draft Security Council resolution that would authorize "all necessary force" in response to the alleged gas attack.





"Further escalation will likely trigger more displacement and add to humanitarian needs, which are already immense," said Magne Barth, head of the ICRC delegation in Syria.



"This was not a rogue operation," one US official said.




People unable to decide whether to leave for neighboring Lebanon said the border was already jammed.




The likeliest option, US officials say, would be to launch cruise missiles from US ships in the Mediterranean in a campaign that would last days.-Reuters

Tags: Syria | UK | military | Vote | Cameron |


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