Obama: Syria Can Be Solved Without Military Action

[tabatha]

President Barack Obama says it is important to resolve the ongoing conflict in Syria without outside military intervention.

President Barack Obama's call on Saturday for the U.N. Security Council to stand up against the Syrian regime's "relentless brutality" was rebuffed by Russia and China when both vetoed a resolution calling for President Bashar Assad to leave power. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Obama says not every situation allows for the type of military action the U.S. and allies took in Libya, which led to the removal of Moammar Gadhafi.

The president says a negotiated solution in Syria is possible. He defended his administration’s handling of the violence there, saying the U.S. has been “relentless” in demanding that President Bashar Assad leave power.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/obama-syria-solved-military-action-15521207#.Ty_a-FymhSQ

[Drale]

1. So much for Obama being a War Monger. /nt

[think]

2. Obama's not a war monger but his support of the current levels of military spending is

disheartening. For what it's worth I believe Obama tends to over compensate at times to prove he's not the great socialist the right wingers paint him to be.

Seeing the sheer hatred thrown his way from the right I would be remiss to blame him.

[tabatha]

4. Obama has a thin line to walk.

If he does not want Republicans in office for a second term.

If even congress members can make a fuss of something as inane as his birth certificate....

I think he is being smart - making fundamental changes that basically will drive down costs in years to come.

[pampango]

3. Obama maintains opposition to military intervention following Russia and China veto in UN

The US has closed its embassy in Damascus in a move which increased diplomatic pressure on the Syrian regime as President Barack Obama declared he opposed military intervention.

The withdrawal on Monday of the ambassador Robert Ford and the 17 remaining staff comes amid increasingly brutal attempts by Syrian security forces to put down uprisings in Homs and other cities.

In the face of calls for stronger action after Russia and China vetoed a UN security council resolution targeting the Bashar Assad's government, Obama said he did not favour replicating the Nato bombing campaign that helped topple Moammar Ghaddafi in Libya in part because of a lack of consensus among the major powers.

"I think it is very important for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention. I think that's possible," he said. "The Assad regime is feeling the noose tightening around them. This is not going to be a matter of if, it's going to be a matter of when."

"But we have been relentless in sending a message that it is time for Assad to go, that the kind of violence we've seen exercised against his own people over this weekend and over the past several months is inexcusable. But not every situation is going to allow for the kind of military solution we saw with respect to Libya."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/06/us-closes-embassy-syria-assad?newsfeed=true