Obama wins key backing for Syria strike

US President Barack Obama won the backing of two top Republicans in Congress in his call for limited US strikes on Syria to punish president Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.

Speaking after the United Nations said two million Syrians had fled a conflict that posed the greatest threat to world peace since the Vietnam war, Obama said the United States also has a broader plan to help rebels defeat Assad’s forces.

In remarks that appeared to question the legality of plans to strike Syria without UN backing, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the use of force was only legal in self-defence or with UN Security Council authorisation.

He said if UN inspectors confirm the use of chemical weapons in Syria, the Security Council, which has long been deadlocked on the two-and-a-half-year civil war, should overcome its differences and take action.

Having startled friends and foes alike in the Middle East by delaying a punitive attack on Assad until Congress reconvenes and agrees, Obama met congressional leaders at the White House yesterday to urge a prompt decision and assure them it did not mean another long war like Iraq or Afghanistan.

In a boost for Obama, John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor both pledged their support for military action after the meeting.

Votes are expected to be held in the US Senate and House next week, with the Republican-led House presenting the tougher challenge for Obama.

The president said strikes aimed at punishing the use of chemical weapons would hurt Assad’s forces while other US action would bolster his opponents — though the White House has insisted it is not seeking “regime change” that might end Syria’s civil war.

“What we are envisioning is something limited. It is something proportional. It will degrade Assad’s capabilities,” Obama said. “At the same time we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition.”

Assad denies deploying poison gas that killed hundreds of civilians last month. His enemies were dismayed by Obama’s decision on Saturday to seek congressional approval before action that he says is necessary to penalise chemical warfare.

The Syrian opposition, which yesterday said a forensic scientist had defected to the rebel side bringing evidence of Assad forces’ use of sarin gas in March, has appealed to Western allies to send them weapons and use their air power to end a war that has killed 100,000 and made millions homeless.

The presence in rebel ranks of Islamist militants, some of them close to al-Qaeda, has made Western leaders wary, while at the same time the undoubted — and apparently accelerating — human cost of the conflict has brought pressure to intervene. Reuters