Obama: 'I Didn't Set A Red Line' on Syria

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about Syria during a joint news conference with Swedish Prime Minister in Stockholm
Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News
Recasting his role in setting a “red line” on Syria, President Barack Obama insisted on Wednesday that Congress and the world will lose credibility if Bashar Assad’s alleged chemical weapons massacre goes unpunished.
“My credibility’s not on the line. The international community’s credibility is on the line, and America and Congress’ credibility is on the line,” Obama said during a visit to Stockholm, Sweden.
“I do have to ask people, well, if, in fact, you’re outraged by the slaughter of innocent people, what are you doing about it?” Obama asked. “The moral thing to do is not to stand by and do nothing.”
The president rejected any notion that he needs to use military force against Syria in order to preserve his personal standing in the world after calling a chemical weapons attack a “red line” in an Aug. 20, 2012, press conference.
“I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line,” he insisted. “The world set a red line when governments representing 98 percent of the world’s population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent and passed a treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war.”
And “Congress set a red line when it ratified that treaty. Congress set a red line when it indicated, in a piece of legislation titled the Syria Accountability Act, that some of the horrendous things that are happening on the ground there need to be answered for,” he added.
The Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria never signed, does not call for unilateral military force in response to violations by countries not party to the treaty. The Syria Accountability Act imposes tough economic sanctions on Syria, but it does not envision unilateral military force. And Obama mentioned neither in his fateful remarks one year ago.
Still, Obama insisted on Wednesday, “that wasn’t something I just kind of made up. I didn’t pluck it out of thin air. There’s a reason for it.”
His arguments recalled then-President George W. Bush’s warnings in the runup to the invasion of Iraq that world credibility was on the line because of a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions warning Saddam Hussein about possessing weapons of mass destruction, and Bush’s insistence that Congress’ credibility was at stake because it passed the Iraq Liberation Act that made “regime change” official U.S. policy.
Syria braces for tough response from West.

“I’m very mindful of the fact that around the world and here in Europe in particular, there are still memories of Iraq,” Obama said.
“Keep in mind, I’m somebody who opposed the war in Iraq and am not interested in repeating mistakes of us basing decisions on faulty intelligence,” he added. “We believe very strongly, with high confidence, that in fact chemical weapons were used and that Mr. Assad was the source.”
Obama’s comments came as the deeply divided Congress wrestled with whether to approve legislation granting him authorization to use force against Syria.
Asked what he would do if lawmakers rejected the measure, Obama bluntly told lawmakers that he does not need their permission to strike Syria. And he challenged Congress to do more than “sit on the sidelines (and) snipe.”
“As commander in chief, I always preserve the right and the responsibility to act on behalf of America’s national security. I do not believe that I was required to take this to Congress,” Obama said.
“But I did not take this to Congress just because it’s an empty exercise; I think it’s important to have Congress’s support on it,” Obama said at a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
The president expressed confidence that Congress will ultimately give him its green light for military action against the Syrian president’s forces, whom Washington accuses of massacring civilians with chemical weapons on Aug. 21.
“I believe Congress will approve it,” he said.
“We can send a very clear strong message in favor of the prohibition against using chemical weapons. We can change Assad’s calculus about using them again. We can degrade his capabilities so that he does not use them again,” Obama said.
“What I’m talking about is an action that is limited in time and in scope, targeted at the specific task of degrading his capabilities and deterring the use of those weapons again,” the president said.
And Obama said Congress must be more invested in the use of American military force abroad — at least when American national security, or that of an ally's, is not directly and imminently threatened.
“It’s important for us to get out of the habit of just saying, ‘well, we’ll let the president kind of stretch the boundaries of his authority as far as he can. Congress will sit on the sidelines, snipe. If it works, the sniping will be a little less. If it doesn’t, a little more.' But either way, the American people and their representatives are not fully invested in what are tough choices,” Obama said.
MTW-I cannot believe this man. HE STATED THAT CHEMICAL WEAPONS WOULD BE A RED LINE FOR "US". Now, he did not say that. Bush probably did. It is his fault. Oh, and here Assad, is a map of where I want to send Tomahawks to. Please move the weapons amongst the human shields. I don't know what I'm doing. Duh. He- Obama- has now put the credibility of the United States at risk with his remarks. If they already hate us, and find out we are weak, we are done. Thank you Mr. Liar. Now you have left the door open to blame Congress for your placement of your own foot in your mouth. Are the Obama supporters watching this shit? Hello? I do not dislike him because he is black. In fact, I believe his white half is a moron as well. Anybody think I am a "racist"? Hey, Mr. Obama, what about the other 100,000 killed with conventional weapons while you dick around? I am sure some were women and children. Anything?
UPDATE: I am currently watching Obama stammer through his justification of a Syria attack while he is at the G-20 Summit. No teleprompter. He said "when I strike". I? You are not the embodiment of the United States sir, when you have laid the blame on Congress to act or not. Unilateral action taken by you is looking more and more likely. Business as usual for your administration, it would seem. We this. We that. "We told other countries that Assad should not be doing this". This man has no clue about foreign relations. Putin plans to attack Saudi Arabia if we strike Syria. Great. Putin is like a shark who smells blood in the water whenever Obama is his adversary. He does not respect this president. The rebels in Syria (al-qaeda)- are torturing and executing their opponents, eating hearts cut from dead men's chests, and summarily torturing and executing Syrian Army soldiers they have captured, filming it all. Do we really want to help propagate that? Cut the head off of the snake and attack Iran. What are the Joint Chiefs thinking? Our Military has been SLASHED by this administration, and they are not respected by Obama, until now when he needs them. No boots on the ground. Days, not weeks. No regime change. Unbelievable. Assad is sitting back relaxing as Putin has his back. I do not blame him.

GOD HELP US.
Posted by Michael T. Wayne- A Little Crazy