人民网
Sun,Sep 1,2013
English>>World

Editor's Pick

White House formally asks Congress to authorize military action against Syria

(Xinhua)    09:11, September 01, 2013
Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31-- The White House on Saturday sent Congress a draft resolution that authorizes a U.S. military action against the Syrian government over its alleged use of chemical weapons last week.

Early in the afternoon, President Barack Obama announced that he would first seek authorization from Congress, as demanded by some lawmakers, before acting to punish Syria for its use of sarin gas in an Aug. 21 attack in the suburbs of Damascus, the Syrian capital.

The draft resolution, to be debated and voted in Congress when U.S. lawmakers return to session on Sept. 9 after a summer break, states that the objective of military strikes on Syria should be to "deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade the potential" for future uses of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.

It also declares that "the conflict in Syria will only be resolved through a negotiated political settlement."

Obama said in his statement that though he has decided to act militarily against Syria government targets, the operation will not be "an open-ended intervention" and will not involve "boots on the ground."

"Instead, our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope," he said.

(Editor:DuMingming、Liang Jun)

Related reading

We Recommend

Most Viewed

Day|Week|Month

Key Words

Links