Syrian Opposition Against New Kerry-Lavrov Plan to Avoid Strike
What at first seemed like a gaffe by the secretary of State—that Assad could escape a U.S. strike by handing over his chemical weapons—became U.S. policy by Monday afternoon. But Syria’s opposition is against it, reports Josh Rogin.
by Josh Rogin Sep 10, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
The Syrian political opposition is dead set against the brand-new Obama-administration policy to pursue a new diplomatic negotiation with Russia in an effort to avoid a military strike on Syria, saying the delay and possible cancellation of Obama’s strike would only embolden Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
--CLIP
For members of the Syrian opposition who view the strikes as a needed boost in their two-and-a-half-year struggle against the government, the prospect that Obama is backing down from his aggressive stance on striking the Syrian regime is the latest in a string of delays they call unhelpful and unwise.
“I really believe that this regime has had so many opportunities and we shouldn’t wait. We need immediate accountability. I doubt very much that the regime would give up its stockpile of chemical weapons just to avert a strike,” said Khalid Saleh, official spokesman for the Syrian National Coalition, in an interview. “The regime has committed so many crimes against humanity and was allowed to get away with it. A delay would embolden the regime more.”
The Syrian National Coalition has been working with Syrian-American organizations to lobby members of Congress to support the president’s efforts to carry out limited strikes against the Assad regime. The coalition says it has always seen the strikes as a needed step to punish the regime and change the momentum on the ground.
“We believe it’s way overdue, but ... we’ve been trying to engage the U.S. public to convince them this is the correct course of action,” Saleh said. “We absolutely believe that a strike would change the momentum on the ground.”
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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/10/syrian-opposition-against-new-kerry-lavrov-plan-to-avoid-strike.html