Obama Seeks Delay in Senate Syria Vote, Lawmakers Say

[cali]

President Barack Obama asked Democratic senators to delay a vote on authorizing military strikes in Syria to allow time for talks on eliminating that country’s chemical weapons, lawmakers said today.

Given the developments of the past 24 hours, second-ranking Senate Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois said it was looking probable that the Senate’s vote on a Syria proposal would slip to next week. Yesterday, Russia announced a bid to get Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said he was open to revising the proposed authorization as is being discussed by senators led by Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Charles Schumer of New York.

The proposal would call for a United Nations resolution stating that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in an Aug. 21 attack that killed more than 1,400 people and would set a timetable for the country to turn over the weapons to UN inspectors, according to a person familiar with the Senate talks.

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A U.S. military strike would be authorized if the weapons weren’t turned over by a set time, said the person, who sought anonymity because the negotiations weren’t public.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-10/u-s-senate-group-drafting-alternative-syria-proposal.html

This is smart politics. Hard for lawmakers to justify a no vote if the above proposal is adopted. It also demonstrates clearly that the President was clearly aware of the political damage he'd suffer if Congress voted on the current AUMF.

[FarCenter]

1. Delay is somthing that should be within the Senate's abilities