WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama's much anticipated address Saturday evening (Saudi time) disappointed many people awaiting a signal for strike against the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad which gassed hundreds of innocent civilians, many of them children. Delaying what had appeared to be an imminent strike, Obama abruptly announced that he will seek Congressional approval before launching any military action meant to punish Syria. With navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea ready to strike, Obama said he had decided the United States should take military action, but also determined “our country will be better off” if Congress renders its own opinion. At the same time, he challenged lawmakers to consider “what message will we send to a dictator” if he is allowed to kill hundreds of children with chemical weapons without suffering any retaliation.” Lawmakers will return to session on Sept. 9. “This is unbelievable! While innocent civilians are being killed Obama has refused to take a call and passed the responsibility to the Congress,” said Ali Al-Ghamdi, a Saudi national residing in Riyadh. The decision represents a significant gamble for Obama, who has an estranged relationship with lawmakers, especially Republicans, and he risks suffering the same fate as British Prime Minister David Cameron, who lost his own vote on authorizing military action in parliament. “We were expecting that military action could even happen as soon as this weekend, but Obama's decision means that will now not happen,” said a disappointed Syrian national. In Cairo, Arab League announced that it decided to hold the meeting of its 140th session Foreign Ministers Council on Sunday rather than scheduled next Tuesday. This came in a press statement issued by the Deputy Secretary General of the Arab League, Ambassador Ahmed Ben Helli. The United Nations vowed to give an “impartial and credible” assessment on whether chemical arms were used in Syria as tensions rose over a possible military strike. But UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said no conclusion can be given on whether banned poison gas had been unleashed in Syria until laboratory tests are completed. Nesirky also said it was “grotesque” to believe that the departure of UN weapons experts from Syria had opened up a possible window for a missile strike against Assad's forces. UN disarmament envoy Angela Kane briefed UN leader Ban Ki-moon on the mission in New York on Saturday. The UN inspectors have a mandate to report on whether banned chemical weapons have been used in the 29-month-old war in Syria — particularly during an August 21 attack on an opposition area near Damascus — but not to say who carried it out. The inspectors have taken the samples to The Hague and they will be moved to two laboratories in Europe. – Agencies
