Obama Weighing Options on Syria

Russia and China are joining
international calls for an investigation
into an alleged poison gas attack in a
suburb of Syria's capital, as U.S.
President Barack Obama said the
reported incident is of "grave concern."

Russia's foreign ministry Friday said
claims by Syria's opposition that
hundreds died in a poisonous gas attack
this week should undergo an objective
investigation and it called on Syria to
cooperate.

Moscow also called on rebel forces to
guarantee safe passage for United
Nations investigators who are already in
the country looking into previous
allegations of chemical use. The ministry
released the statement following a call
between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry.

China's foreign ministry Friday also
backed calls for a U.N. investigation,
with a spokesman telling the state-run
Xinhua news agency that China
"resolutely opposes" the use of chemical
weapons no matter which side is
responsible.

The United States has been pushing for
a U.N.-led investigation. Obama told
CNN that officials are still gathering
information but called the reported
attack a matter of "grave concern."
Obama also acknowledged many people
around the world are looking to the U.S.
to take action. But he said, "the notion
that the U.S. can somehow solve what is
a sectarian, complex problem inside of
Syria sometimes is overstated."

President Barack Obama says Syria’s
alleged use of chemical weapons
against its own people has accelerated his process of deciding on a U.S. response.

The president faces a narrow
range of options.
In an interview Thursday with CNN, the
president described the alleged use of
chemical weapons by the Syrian
government as a big event of grave
concern.

“We are still gathering information about
this particular event, but it is very
troublesome," said President Obama.
Obama said the situation requires the
attention of the United States and the
international community.

But he said the U.S. needs to “think
through” its response, warning that
“jumping into stuff…does not turn out
well.”

“We have to think through strategically
what is going to be in our long-term
national interest," said Obama.
Obama said he would seek international
support before taking major action.

The president has been criticized for not
acting more decisively after saying that
Syria’s use of chemical weapons would
cross a “red line.”

Obama recently pledged U.S. aid to
Syrian opposition groups, but has not
sent much assistance so far.
Leila Hilal, director of the Middle East
Task Force at Washington’s New
America Foundation, says backing the
opposition could be helpful in fighting
the government. But she says that would
do nothing to stop the use of chemical
weapons.

Hilal says another military option would
be to launch missile strikes from outside
Syria. She says that, too, carries risks.
“While you can hit chemical deposits
and factories and storage units, the
question is whether or not that would
end up hurting more than helping, given
the potential for civilian casualties," said Hilal.

Hilal says the best of the few options
available may be to rekindle prospects
for a political solution. She believes
Syria’s supporters, such as Iran, could
be helpful in moving the government
toward negotiations.

“The Assad regime clearly sees an
advantage in continuing to fight on the
ground, and it is not thinking right now
that there is an advantage to a political
process. But that does not mean that the
people supporting him do not think that
there could be an advantage to a
political process," she said.
Russia, which backs the Assad
government, joined the United Nations
Friday in urging Syria to grant access to
U.N. inspectors.
The Syrian government denies that it
has used chemical weapons.

President Barack Obama at Lackawanna college in scranton