Syria in balance as Kerry goes to Geneva for talks

Hoyer Says Obama Could Strike Syria Without Congress Vote

The second-ranking House Democrat said President Barack Obama has the authority to use military force against Syria without returning to the U.S. Congress for approval should diplomacy fail to compel the Syrian government to surrender its chemical weapons arsenal.
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said neither he nor House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, “believe the president is required to come to Congress in this instance, and could act on his own.”

Hoyer, in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt” that airs this weekend, also said House Republican disarray on strategy in battling Obama over the federal budget and raising the nation’s borrowing limit makes a government shutdown at month’s end more likely.
On Syria, Hoyer said only a brief window exists for Russia to prove that its bid to require Syria to give up its chemical arms stockpile to avert a U.S. military strike is “real” -- “certainly not longer than weeks.”
If the effort fails, Hoyer added, Obama’s hand would be strengthened in taking military action if Congress explicitly empowered him to do so.
“If we passed a resolution, he’d have a stronger hand,” Hoyer said. “But having said that, neither the Russians nor the Syrians ought to conclude that the president is without authority to act.”

‘Extra Mile’

The attempt at a diplomatic solution may also help Obama influence lawmakers to support a military strike, Hoyer said.
“People would say, ‘Well, he went the extra mile, he reached out, he took the diplomatic course that people had been urging him to take -- and it didn’t work,’” Hoyer said. “And therefore under those circumstances, the only option available to us to preclude the further use of chemical weapons and to try to deter and degrade Syria’s ability to use them is to act.’”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution authorizing military force against Syria, and the Senate was prepared to vote on the measurer this week. The resolution appeared to face growing House opposition. Then, when the prospect of a negotiated settlement arose, Obama said in a national televised address on Sept. 10 that he was asking Congress to delay voting.

Health-Care ‘Gambit’

On fiscal issues, Hoyer said Democrats will never agree to the Republican bid to delay funding for the 2010 health-care law in exchange for funding the government, calling it a “gambit” the opposing party could use to continuously keep the measure from being carried out.
“We’re not going to be bludgeoned and blackmailed into adopting something with respect to the health-care bill that the voters rejected” in giving Obama a second term last November, he said.
Calling the Republicans “fixated” on repealing the law, Hoyer said, “As long as ‘shut down the government’ is their bludgeon, is their threat, is their hostage, that’s not a negotiable issue.”
While he and some influential Republicans oppose the automatic across-the-board spending cuts imposed earlier this year, Hoyer conceded they are likely to remain in effect for the foreseeable future.
“The sequester is an irrational, common-sense-defying fiscal policy” that should be replaced with a “big deal” that both cuts federal spending and while also raising revenues, Hoyer said.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he said.

Syria in balance as Kerry goes to Geneva for talks

White House hopes to defuse a showdown at home

By Jay Solomon and Carol E. Lee

WASHINGTON — The decisions of the U.S. Congress and the United Nations on how to handle Syria’s chemical weapons now hinge on two days of meetings starting Thursday between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The meetings, to be held in Geneva, will represent Moscow’s effort to reclaim a superpower’s role on the world stage, while the Obama administration is looking for a way to defuse a showdown without being embarrassed either by losing a vote in Congress or the U.N. on action in Syria.

Stakes are high for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who vowed this week to force the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to disarm, and President Barack Obama, who delayed his vow of a military strike first to ask for a congressional blessing and then to seek a complicated agreement with Putin following months of tension and mistrust between the two governments. 

The Obama administration has cautiously embraced the Russian initiative as a last-ditch effort to stave off direct American military involvement in Syria’s civil war. But senior U.S. officials and other Western allies said they remain wary about Russian’s intentions and whether Putin is simply seeking to buy time for his close ally in Damascus.

“Our goal here is to test the seriousness of this proposal, to talk about the specifics of how this would get done, what are the mechanics of identifying, verifying, securing and ultimately destroying the chemical weapons,” said State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki. “And, this requires, of course, a willingness from both sides.”

Kerry’s meetings with Lavrov will occur after a feverish three weeks in which a chemical attack U.S. officials blame on the Syrian government prompted Obama to vow to retaliate with missile strikes.

After criticism, Obama asked for congressional approval of a resolution authorizing the use of force. As that effort sagged under congressional resistance and public opposition, Kerry inadvertently invited a diplomatic overture from Moscow by saying in an offhand comment in London on Monday that Syria could avoid a military strike by surrendering its chemical weapons to international control.

That same day, Syrian officials acknowledged for the first time that they had chemical weapons and agreed to hand them over.

France, the U.K. and the U.S. began drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution that would require Syria’s compliance under the threat of force, but Russia objected.

On Wednesday, the three presented their proposals. Russian and U.S. chemical-weapons experts will help “the two ministers sketch out a possible scenario of a regime of inspections,” a Western diplomat said.

The diplomat added that “if the Russians can be taken at their word and get the Syrians to disarm and dismantle these chemical weapons; everything else will follow from that.”

Kerry and Lavrov have forged an unlikely diplomatic partnership this year, meeting nearly a dozen times in a bid to end the Syrian conflict. Kerry has said Russia is a crucial partner in trying to stabilize Syria and the broader Middle East.

Syrian opposition leaders, though, have repeatedly warned that the Russians are manipulating Kerry.

They said Moscow’s interest in the Geneva peace process has been largely driven by a desire to buy more time for Assad to crack down on his political and military opponents. And they said they had little hope that Russia’s disarmament initiative will go anywhere.

“After more than two years of Russia aiding the Assad regime, the coalition doubts it would be able to bring about a peaceful, democratic conclusion to the Syrian civil war, said Farah Al-Atassi, a member of Syria’s main political opposition group. “How can we trust them? They’ve become part of the problem. They are not a part of the solution,” she said.

Kerry was to be accompanied by a team of U.S. experts who were set to meet with similar specialists from Russia to evaluate the details of the proposal.

However, U.S. officials made clear that they aren’t trying to settle a key point of disagreement that has emerged between Moscow and Western powers: whether the effort to take control of Syria’s chemical weapons should be accompanied by a threat of force.

Moscow argues that the Syrian regime’s quick agreement to the proposal was enough of a concession and that further consequences should be considered only after any compliance problems arise. 

The State Department and White House said any resolution should be credible and “binding,” but appeared to leave open the possibility that the U.S. would accept a Security Council resolution that didn’t include the threat of force. White House officials said they are seeking a diplomatic proposal that includes specific benchmarks for success.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney also said Russia now has “put its prestige on the line” by trying to broker a deal for Syria. Administration officials also suggested Moscow’s involvement would deter Syria from using chemical weapons again.

“I think this whole process will test the seriousness of all participants,” Carney said. 

The White House continued Wednesday to reserve the option of military force. “Absent the success of a diplomatic initiative like this that verifiably removes chemical weapons from Assad’s control, the right course of action is to engage in a limited operation,” Carney said.

The diplomatic initiative could help Obama eventually gain approval from Congress for some type of resolution regarding Syria.

“There’s the potential for more support, but it’s hard to predict,” a senior administration official said. “And we are under no illusions about the resistance to supporting a strike, among the public and therefore in Congress.”

Before delivering a prime-time address Tuesday, Obama encouraged lawmakers to continue working on a resolution — but one that is tweaked to include a diplomatic ultimatum, officials said.

Administration officials privately acknowledge that the vote in Congress this week was headed for failure before a surprise last-ditch diplomatic effort, led by Russia, inadvertently emerged, prompting Obama to tell Americans Tuesday that he had asked congressional leaders to postpone voting on a resolution authorizing military force.

“A number of members have begun looking at resolutions that might take into account the diplomatic avenues that are being pursued, and that is certainly worthy of pursuit,” Carney said. “We’re in consultations with Congress about that.”

Another senior administration official said the U.S. legislative pause to pursue diplomacy could also elicit another vote in the British Parliament, a move the White House believes could turn out positively this time and strengthen Obama’s hand on Capitol Hill.

In Moscow, Russian officials touted Moscow’s initiative as a triumph for Kremlin diplomacy.

“Russia’s breakthrough initiative to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control for later destruction left the U.S. administration and President Obama no choice,” said Vladimir Kuroyedov, chairman of the Defense Committee in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

In the Duma on Tuesday, legislators overwhelmingly backed a nonbinding resolution calling on the U.S. to give up its “plans for aggression” against Syria.

Gregory L. White, Julian E. Barnes, Rebecca Ballhaus and Joe Lauria contributed to this report.

 

Kerry Calls Talks Constructive With No Breakthrough Seen

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reported a “constructive” start to talks with Russia over Syria’s chemical weapons, while giving no sign of a breakthrough.
“We would both agree that we had constructive conversations regarding that, but those conversations are continuing,” Kerry said in Geneva today after initial meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
U.S.-Russian talks over putting Syria’s chemical weapons under international control were entwined with a broader diplomatic push to end the 2 1/2-year civil war by bringing President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition to the negotiating table.
Kerry, Lavrov and United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said efforts to spur the warring Syrian factions toward a political settlement will continue at the UN General Assembly later this month.
All three briefed the media after an hourlong session of talks. “We have to make sure this issue is resolved quickly, professionally, as soon as practically possible,” Lavrov said regarding the chemical weapons.