{"id":76549,"date":"2013-09-12T16:03:04","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T13:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/?p=76549"},"modified":"2023-04-30T13:01:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T10:01:39","slug":"syria-to-bomb-or-not-to-bomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2013\/09\/12\/syria-to-bomb-or-not-to-bomb\/","title":{"rendered":"SYRIA ; To Bomb or Not to Bomb  .. MESSAGE FROM WHITE HOUSE"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div style=\"border: none; border-top: solid #b5c4df 1.0pt; padding: 3.0pt 0in 0in 0in;\">\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">OBAMADAN GELEN MESAJ<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Subject: Syria<br \/>\nDate: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 23:56:52 -0500<br \/>\nTo: hnurgel@hotmail.com<br \/>\nFrom: president@messages.whitehouse.<wbr \/>gov<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; background-color: #efefe1;\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#efefe1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"line-height: 10pt;\" bgcolor=\"#efefe1\" height=\"7\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<table style=\"line-height: 15pt; background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,Times,Times New Roman,serif; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;\" width=\"391\" border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"left\" valign=\"top\" bgcolor=\"#efefe1\" width=\"7\"><img alt=\"\" width=\"7\" height=\"500\" border=\"0\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"padding-left: 7%; padding-right: 7%;\">\n<div align=\"center\"><img style=\"vertical-align: middle; border: 0; color: #003366; font-size: 12pt;\" alt=\"The White House, Washington\" width=\"156\" height=\"122\" align=\"middle\" border=\"0\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Good evening &#8212;<br \/>\nI just addressed the nation about the use of chemical weapons in Syria.<br \/>\nOver the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war in Syria. Over 100,000 people have been killed.<br \/>\nIn that time, we have worked with friends and allies to provide humanitarian support for the Syrian people, to help the moderate opposition within Syria, and to shape a political settlement. But we have resisted calls for military action because we cannot resolve someone else&#8217;s civil war through force.<br \/>\nThe situation profoundly changed in the early hours of August 21, when more than 1,000 Syrians &#8212; including hundreds of children &#8212; were killed by chemical weapons launched by the Assad government.<br \/>\nWhat happened to those people &#8212; to those children &#8212; is not only a violation of international law &#8212; it&#8217;s also a danger to our security. Here&#8217;s why:<br \/>\nIf we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these deadly weapons erodes, other tyrants and authoritarian regimes will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gases and using them. Over time, our troops could face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield. It could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and use them to attack civilians. If fighting spills beyond Syria&#8217;s borders, these weapons could threaten our allies in the region.<br \/>\nSo after careful deliberation, I determined that it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the Assad regime&#8217;s use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike. The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime&#8217;s ability to use them, and make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use.<br \/>\nThough I possess the authority to order these strikes, in the absence of a direct threat to our security I believe that Congress should consider my decision to act. Our democracy is stronger when the President acts with the support of Congress &#8212; and when Americans stand together as one people.<br \/>\nOver the last few days, as this debate unfolds, we&#8217;ve already begun to see signs that the credible threat of U.S. military action may produce a diplomatic breakthrough. The Russian government has indicated a willingness to join with the international community in pushing Assad to give up his chemical weapons and the Assad regime has now admitted that it has these weapons, and even said they&#8217;d join the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits their use.<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force.<br \/>\nThat&#8217;s why I&#8217;ve asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path. I&#8217;m sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin. At the same time, we&#8217;ll work with two of our closest allies &#8212; France and the United Kingdom &#8212; to put forward a resolution at the U.N. Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons, and to ultimately destroy them under international control.<br \/>\nMeanwhile, I&#8217;ve ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad, and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails. And tonight, I give thanks again to our military and their families for their incredible strength and sacrifices.<br \/>\nAs we continue this debate &#8212; in Washington, and across the country &#8212; I need your help to make sure that everyone understands the factors at play.<br \/>\nPlease share this message with others to make sure they know where I stand, and how they can stay up to date on this situation. Anyone can find the latest information about the situation in Syria, including video of tonight&#8217;s address, here:<br \/>\n<strong><wbr \/>issues\/foreign-policy\/syria<\/strong><br \/>\nThank you,<br \/>\nPresident Barack Obama<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #999999;\">This email was sent to\u00a0hnurgel@hotmail.com.<br \/>\nUnsubscribe | Privacy Policy<br \/>\nPlease do not reply to this email. Contact the White House<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 8pt; color: #999999;\">The White House \u2022 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW \u2022 Washington, DC 20500 \u2022 <span class=\"skype_pnh_container\" dir=\"ltr\" tabindex=\"-1\">\u00a0<span class=\"skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_common\" dir=\"ltr\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skype_pnh_logo_img\" alt=\"\" src=\"chrome:\/\/skype_ff_extension\/skin\/numbers_button_skype_logo.png\" \/><span class=\"skype_pnh_text_span\">202-456-1111<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b><span style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';\">=============<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><b><span style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';\">From:<\/span><\/b><span style=\"font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';\"> Nursel Oran [mailto:nurander@primus.ca]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>&#8220;In April 2009, an Abu Dhabi newspaper carried the news that Qatar had proposed a gas pipeline from the Persian Gulf to Turkey. The Gulf sheikhdom had just finished an ambitious program to more than double its capacity to produce liquefied natural gas at the world\u2019s biggest gas field and needed access to European markets, bypassing the troubled Persian Gulf where the threat of Iran hangs over the heads of the region\u2019s medieval monarchs&#8230; But what Qatar and Turkey had not foreseen was the fact President Assad of Syria would have the gall to say \u2018No\u2019 to their moneymaking venture, instead inking deals with both Russia and Iran.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\">September 11, 2013<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-76550\" alt=\"suriye\" src=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/suriye.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/suriye.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/suriye-300x237.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"font-size: 32.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><b><span style=\"font-size: 34.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\">To Bomb or Not to Bomb<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Helvetica','sans-serif'; color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>Tarek Fatah<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span><span style=\"color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none;\">The Toronto Sun<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>While Russia and America try to outfox each other in the equivalent of a 21st century \u201cGreat Game,\u201d Syria\u2019s next-door neighbour Israel may end up being drawn into the conflict.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>After all, the Syrian civil war has taken place very close to Israel\u2019s northern borders and the prospect of Hezbollah getting its hands on Syrian chemical weapons cannot be ruled out, despite a number of Israeli air attacks on Syrian convoys that were suspected of transferring military equipment to southern Lebanon.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>For the first time, Israel has deployed its Iron Dome anti-missile defence battery in the Jerusalem area. Last week, the IDF had moved Iron Dome batteries to various locations, including the Tel Aviv area, in response to the possibility of reprisals for an American attack against Syria.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>The possibility of cruise missiles landing in Damascus triggered serious debate <span class=\"aBn\" tabindex=\"0\" data-term=\"goog_788447744\"><span class=\"aQJ\">on Monday<\/span><\/span> at the opening of the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism hosted by the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya, Israel.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>Uzi Arad, the former head of the Israeli National Security Council, told the conference he doubted if an attack on Syrian government forces by the U.S. would be successful.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>Speaking to a packed audience, Arad surprised delegates from more than 50 countries when he criticized President Barack Obama, saying the American leader, by threatening Damascus, had bitten off more than he could chew. Arad, once an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Netenyahu, suggested the best thing President Obama could do now was to extricate himself from the corner he had backed himself into with as much dignity as possible.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>Twenty-four hours later, the American president seems to have received just such a chance to back out from his disastrous diplomatic debacle. This happened when the Russians called John Kerry\u2019s bluff and obtained agreement from Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>At the summit, Uzi Arad not only dismissed the Obama-Kerry proposed response as a bad idea, he openly questioned its legality. He told the counter-terrorism summit, \u201cSyria is not a signatory to international conventions against the use of chemical weapons,\u201d making the legal basis for intervention somewhat shoddy. \u201cYou cannot say that Assad violated an international convention Syria is not signed on to.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>The annual summit attracted nearly 1,000 delegates from more than 50 countries ranging from India and Brazil to Canada and Australia. They included academics, intelligence officials, retired generals and police officials, and the one question on everyone\u2019s mind, was this: \u201cWhy can\u2019t America get its act together?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>Few were aware of the oil factor behind the Syrian civil war.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>In April 2009, an Abu Dhabi newspaper carried the news that Qatar had proposed a gas pipeline from the Persian Gulf to Turkey. The Gulf sheikhdom had just finished an ambitious program to more than double its capacity to produce liquefied natural gas at the world\u2019s biggest gas field and needed access to European markets, bypassing the troubled Persian Gulf where the threat of Iran hangs over the heads of the region\u2019s medieval monarchs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span><span>Following talks with the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, the then ruler of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani told the media, \u201cWe are eager to have a gas pipeline from Qatar to Turkey.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span><span style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: 'Hoefler Text','serif'; color: #333333;\">But what Qatar and Turkey had not foreseen was the fact President Assad of Syria would have the gall to say \u2018No\u2019 to their moneymaking venture, instead inking deals with both Russia and Iran.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"background: white;\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span>As one counter-terrorism expert at the Herzliya summit said, \u201cfollow the money.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OBAMADAN GELEN MESAJ Subject: Syria Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 23:56:52 -0500 To: hnurgel@hotmail.com From: president@messages.whitehouse.gov Good evening &#8212; I just addressed the nation about the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":31641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,34],"tags":[145],"class_list":["post-76549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-syria","category-usa","tag-barack-obama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}